Phyllanthus fluitans

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Phyllanthus fluitans
Phyllanthus fluitans 2010-06-20 01.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Phyllanthaceae
Genus: Phyllanthus
Species:
P. fluitans
Binomial name
Phyllanthus fluitans
Synonyms [2] [3]
  • Diasperus fluitans(Benth. ex Müll.Arg.) Kuntze
  • Phyllanthus fluitansBenth.

Phyllanthus fluitans, also known as the red root floater, floating spurge, [3] [4] or apple duckweed is a species of free floating aquatic plant and herbaceous perennial [5] in the family Phyllanthaceae. [6] This species is one of the only three non-terrestrial species in the genus Phyllanthus , with the other species being P. leonardianus [7] and P. felicis . [8] The generic name comes from Ancient Greek meaning leaf or a leaf (φύλλον, phúllon; phyll) flower (ἄνθος, anthos; anthus), [9] and the specific name comes from Latin meaning floating or float (fluito; fluitans). [5] It was described in March 1863 by George Bentham and Johannes Müller Argoviensis. [1] [10]

Contents

Description

The stems are 3 to 5 cm long, with many rootlets emerging from the nodes. [11] The leaves are sessile and are cordate-orbicular (heart shaped), the leaf surface forms a pocket on each side of the midrib that traps air and helps plants float on the water. [12] Plants produce 2–4 small white polymerous actinomorphic unisexual flowers on a cyme inflorescence and are nearly 1.5 mm long. [11] Seed capsules are depressed-globular in shape and nearly 3 mm wide [11] with six triangular seeds per capsule, 1.7 mm long by 1.1 mm wide. [4] [12] Below the epidermis there are large cells bulging outwards, with one or two layers of green cells, sometimes slightly elongated perpendicular to the surface constituting something that resembles or is a palisade parenchyma. There are large gaps separated by walls formed from a single thickness of cells that often go from the chlorenchyma to the lower epidermis. Sometimes this epidermis is also covered by a layer of cells elongated tangentially. We can imagine that with a similar morphology and an anatomy which allows the storage of air the plant is able to float and remain horizontal in an aquatic environment. The lower epidermis is devoid of stomata with a few on the upper epidermis. [13] The leaves vary from green to red depending on the light brightness. The leaves are also hydrophobic, probably due to the Salvinia effect.

An illustration of Phyllanthus fluitans made by R.C Phyllanthus fluitans illustration by R. C. (Robert Chodat).jpg
An illustration of Phyllanthus fluitans made by R.C

Taxonomy

It was formerly placed in the family Euphorbiaceae evident from the common name "floating spurge", along with many other species in the genus Phyllanthus and Phyllanthaceae [14] until 1993, when a maximum parsimony was done and revealed that Euphorbiaceae had several lineages in it, including Phyllanthaceae and its subsequent taxa. [15] It is also apparently most closely related to P. caroliniensis . [16]

Distribution and habitat

It is native to the Amazon basin with its range being in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Paraguay, and northern Argentina [17] [6] [18] [19] [20] with the type location being in the Rio Negro tributary. [10] It has been seen outside its native range in southern Florida [7] [20] and Mexico (Tabasco) [21] being naturalised where it has invaded. [8] This species’ distribution can also potentially reach Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Louisiana, the southern parts of south east states of the US like Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi where it has the potential to be problematic invasive species like water fern, water lettuce and water hyacinth by covering large swaths of stagnant backwater areas. This noxious species may limit or totally block all ambient light penetration to the bottom of the system, which can stunt and potentially kill submersed plants growing below. [4] It has also been recorded in Panama. [8]

Discovery

This species was discovered for the first time by English botanist Richard Spruce in the Amazon. At the time of discovery, he wrote in his journal: [22]

"Although as far removed from Sahinià (swimming aquatic fern) as the poles are from each other, the Phyllanthus fluitans looked so similar in its general appearance that I could hardly believe my eyes when I recognized that it belonged to the flowering plants. This is one of the many cases that I have encountered of plants which, totally different in the structure of their flowers and their fruits, manage to resemble each other in their devices." [22]

Commercial use

It is sometimes sold in aquarium companies or shops like Tropica to be used as decorations or additions in aquariums [23] [24] for its red roots (hence the common name) and its reddish tinted to reddish leaves [8] when exposed to bright light.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Antidesma</i> Genus of flowering plants

Antidesma is a genus of tropical plant in the family Phyllanthaceae formally described by Linnaeus in 1753. It is native to tropical Africa, S + E + SE Asia, Australia, and various oceanic islands. The greatest diversity occurs in Southeast Asia.

<i>Phyllanthus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Phyllanthus is the largest genus in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number of species in this genus vary widely, from 750 to 1200. Phyllanthus has a remarkable diversity of growth forms including annual and perennial herbs, shrubs, climbers, floating aquatics, and pachycaulous succulents. Some have flattened leaflike stems called cladodes. It has a wide variety of floral morphologies and chromosome numbers and has one of the widest range of pollen types of any seed plant genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllanthaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Phyllanthaceae is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae.

<i>Phyllanthus urinaria</i> Species of plant, herb

Phyllanthus urinaria, commonly called chamber bitter, gripeweed, shatterstone, stonebreaker or leafflower, is a species of suffruticose and herb in the family Phyllanthaceae.

<i>Sebastiania</i> Genus of flowering plants

Sebastiania is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae first described in 1821. It is native to North and South America from Arizona and the West Indies south to Uruguay.

<i>Alchorneopsis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Alchorneopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1865. It is native to Central America, the Greater Antilles, and northern South America.

  1. Alchorneopsis floribunda(Benth.) Müll.Arg. - Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, 3 Guianas, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, NW Brazil
  2. Alchorneopsis portoricensisUrb. - Puerto Rico

Neoboutonia is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1864. It is the only genus in subtribe Neoboutoniinae, and native to tropical Africa. It is dioecious.

  1. Neoboutonia macrocalyx Pax - Burundi, Cameroon, Rwanda, Zaire, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  2. Neoboutonia manniiBenth. & Hook.f. - tropical Africa from Liberia to Mozambique
  3. Neoboutonia melleri(Müll.Arg.) Prain - tropical Africa from Nigeria to Mozambique

Astrocasia is a plant genus of the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1905. It is included in the subtribe Astrocasiinae. It is native to Mesoamerica, northern South America, and the western part of the West Indies. Plants are mostly dioecious, except for Astrocasia diegoae which is monoecious, and some individuals of A. neurocarpa and A. tremula.

  1. Astrocasia austinii(Standl.) G.L.Webster - Izabal
  2. Astrocasia diegoaeJ.Jiménez Ram. & Mart.Gord. - Guerrero
  3. Astrocasia jacobinensis(Müll.Arg.) G.L.Webster - Bahia, Bolivia
  4. Astrocasia neurocarpa(Müll.Arg.) I.M.Johnst. ex Standl. - Oaxaca, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas
  5. Astrocasia peltataStandl. - Costa Rica, Nayarit, Jalisco
  6. Astrocasia tremula (Griseb.) G.L.Webster - Mexico, Central America, West Indies, northern South America
<i>Breynia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Breynia is a plant genus in the family Phyllanthaceae, first described in 1776. It is native to Southeast Asia, China, the Indian Subcontinent, Papuasia, Australia, and the island of Réunion.

<i>Glochidion</i> Genus of flowering plants

Glochidion is a genus of flowering plants, of the family Phyllanthaceae, known as cheese trees or buttonwood in Australia, and leafflower trees in the scientific literature. It comprises about 300 species, distributed from Madagascar to the Pacific Islands. Glochidion species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Aenetus eximia and Endoclita damor. The Nicobarese people have attested to the medicinal properties found in G. calocarpum, saying that its bark and seed are most effective in curing abdominal disorders associated with amoebiasis.

<i>Actephila</i> Genus of flowering plants

Actephila is a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae, first described as a genus in 1826. It is one of 8 genera in the tribe Poranthereae, and is most closely related to Leptopus. The name of the genus is derived from two Greek words, akte, "the seashore", and philos, "loving". It refers to a coastal habitat.

<i>Phyllanthus mirabilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Phyllanthus mirabilis is a plant species of family Phyllanthaceae and is native to Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. It is one of the only four Phyllanthus to be caudiciform and the one of the only two caudiciform Phyllanthus to be described, with the other being Phyllanthus kaweesakii. The leaves fold together at night. Wild plants are found on limestone mountains and cliffs.

Glochidion taitense, also known by the synonym Phyllanthus taitensis or as mahame in Tahitian, is a species of tree or shrub in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is endemic to the Windward Society Islands of French Polynesia. It is common on the island of Tahiti, where it grows in a wide variety of habitats, but has only been collected once on the nearby island of Moorea, only 17 kilometers distant. It is easily distinguishable from other species of Glochidion on Tahiti and Moorea due to the pubescence on its leaves, young branches, and flowers.

<i>Notoleptopus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Notoleptopus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is one of eight genera in the tribe Poranthereae. The sole species is Notoleptopus decaisnei. It is a monoecious shrub, native to Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia.

<i>Phyllanthus microcladus</i> Species of plant in the family Phyllanthaceae

Phyllanthus microcladus, commonly known as the brush sauropus or small-leaved Phyllanthus, is a plant in the family Phyllanthaceae found in tropical and sub tropical areas of eastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales in Australia. It is listed as endangered in New South Wales, but in Queensland it is assessed as least concern. It occurs by streams in rainforest, from near Grafton northwards to around Cairns.

Retiniphyllum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains 20 species. It is the only genus in the tribe Retiniphylleae. The representatives are shrubs or small trees that grow in white sand soils in tropical South America. They are mainly distributed in the Guayana Region (Venezuela) but also occur in the Amazon Basin, the eastern Andes and central and eastern Brasil.

Phyllanthus coluteoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Phyllanthaceae, native to west Madagascar and the Mozambique Channel Islands.

<i>Phyllanthus tenellus</i> Species of flowering plant

Phyllanthus tenellus is a herbaceous plant in the leafflower family, Phyllanthaceae. It is commonly called Mascarene Island leaf flower as it is native to the Mascarene Islands. It is often a weed in flower beds, gardens, roadsides, and other disturbed areas.

Mallotus floribundus is a tree in the family Euphorbiaceae, in the Stylanthus section, native to Southeast Asia, Wallaceae, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

References

  1. 1 2 "Phyllanthus fluitans Benth ex. Müll.Arg". catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  2. ↑ "Phyllanthus fluitans Benth ex. Müll.Arg". World Flora Online. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Phyllanthus fluitans Benth. ex Müll.Arg". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Weed Risk Assessment for Phyllanthus fluitans Benth. ex Müll. Arg. (Phyllanthaceae) – Red root floater" (PDF). Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Phyllanthus fluitans". Missouri Botanical Garden . Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Red Root Floater Phyllanthus fluitans Benth. ex Müll. Arg". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  7. 1 2 Sowinski, Michael P. "Red root floater Phyllanthus fluitans (Euphorbiaceae): Another Aquatic Invader for Florida" (PDF). University of Florida (www.ufl.edu). Michael Sowinski. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Ibáñez, Alicia; Flores, Rodolfo. "Phyllanthus fluitans (Phyllanthaceae): a new record of an aquatic plant for the flora of Panama". Acta Botánica Mexicana (128). doi: 10.21829/abm128.2021.1767 . S2CID   225174553 . Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  9. ↑ "Phyllanthus". alabamaplants.com. 9 July 2021.
  10. 1 2 Müller, J. (1863). "Euphorbiaceae: Vorläufige Mittheilungen aus dem für DeCandolle's Prodromus bestimmten Manuscript über diese Faamiliae". Linnaea. 32 (1): 1–126 [36]. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 MacBride, J.F. (1951). "Flora of Peru". Chicago Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, U.S.A: 290. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  12. 1 2 Lot, A.; A., Novelo; Cowan, C.P. (1980). "Hallazgo en México de una Euphorbiacea acuática originaria de Sudamérica". Boletin de la Sociedad Botanica de Mexico (39): 83–90. doi: 10.17129/botsci.1176 .
  13. ↑ Chodat, R. (1893). "Observations sur le macroplancton des étangs du Paraguay". Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier. 2e série (in French). Impr. Romet. 6: 145. OCLC   1553862 . Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  14. ↑ Jensen, Uwe; Vogel-Bauer, Ina; Nitschke, Marei (1994). "Leguminlike Proteins and the Systematics of the Euphorbiaceae". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. 81 (2): 161–162. doi:10.2307/2992092. JSTOR   2992092 . Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  15. ↑ Chase, Mark W.; et al. (1993). "Phylogenetics of Seed Plants: An Analysis of Nucleotide Sequences from the Plastid Gene rbcL" (PDF). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 80 (3): 528–580. doi:10.2307/2399846. JSTOR   2399846.
  16. ↑ "Phyllanthus fluitans in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". efloras.org. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  17. ↑ José Murillo, A. (2004). "Las Euphorbiaceae de Colombia" (PDF). Biota Colombiana. 2 (5): 183–200. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  18. ↑ Landolt, E. (1999). "Pleustonic communities with Lemnaceae in South America". Applied Vegetation Science. 2 (1): 7–16. doi:10.2307/1478876. JSTOR   1478876 . Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  19. ↑ Leon, B.; Young, K.R. (1996). "Aquatic plants of Peru: diversity, distribution and conservation". Biodiversity and Conservation. 5 (10): 1169–1190. doi:10.1007/BF00051570. S2CID   37916973 . Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  20. 1 2 "Taxon: Phyllanthus fluitans Benth. ex Mull. Arg". GRIN Global (Germplasm Resource Information Network Global). Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  21. ↑ Steinmann, Victor W. (2002). "Diversidad y endemismo de la familia Euphorbiaceae en México". Acta Botánica Mexicana. 61 (61): 61–93 [64]. doi: 10.21829/abm61.2002.909 . ISSN   0187-7151 . Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  22. 1 2 Chodat, R. (1865–1934). La biologie des plantes (in French). Édition Atar. p. 270. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  23. ↑ "Phyllanthus fluitans". Tropica. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  24. ↑ "Phyllanthus fluitans (PYLFU)[Overview] EPPO Global Database". gd.eppo.int. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
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