Salvinia molesta, commonly known as giant salvinia, or as kariba weed after it infested a large portion of Lake Kariba between Zimbabwe and Zambia, is an aquatic fern, native to south-eastern Brazil. It is a free-floating plant that does not attach to the soil, but instead remains buoyant on the surface of a body of water. The fronds are 0.5–4 cm long and broad, with a bristly surface caused by the hair-like strands that join at the end to form eggbeater shapes. They are used to provide a waterproof covering. These fronds are produced in pairs also with a third modified root-like frond that hangs in the water. It has been accidentally introduced or escaped to countless lakes throughout the United States, including Caddo Lake in Texas, where the invasive species has done extensive damage, killing off other life.
Aquatic plants are vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes (phytoplanktons). In lakes, rivers and wetlands, aquatic vegetations provide cover for aquatic animals such as fish, amphibians and aquatic insects, create substrate for benthic invertebrates, produce oxygen via photosynthesis, and serve as food for some herbivorous wildlife. Familiar examples of aquatic plants include waterlily, lotus, duckweeds, mosquito fern, floating heart, water milfoils, mare's tail, water lettuce and water hyacinth.
Water garden or aquatic garden, is a term sometimes used for gardens, or parts of gardens, where any type of water feature is a principal or dominant element. The primary focus is on plants, but they will sometimes also house waterfowl, or ornamental fish, in which case it may be called a fish pond. They vary enormously in size and style.
Salvinia or watermosses is a genus of free-floating aquatic ferns in the family Salviniaceae. The genus is named in honor of 17th-century Italian naturalist Anton Maria Salvini, and the generic name was first published in 1754 by French botanist Jean-François Séguier in Plantae Veronenses, a description of the plants found around Verona. Twelve species are recognized, at least three of which are believed to be hybrids in part because their sporangia are found to be empty.
The water caltrop is any of three extant species of the genus Trapa: Trapa natans, Trapa bicornis and the endangered Trapa rossica. It is also known as buffalo nut, bat nut, devil pod, ling nut, mustache nut, singhara nut or water chestnut.
Ludwigia helminthorrhiza, known commonly as floating Ludwigia, originally known as Jussiaea natansBonpl. or Jussiaea helminthorrhizaC. Martius is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Onagraceae. Native to south Mexico, Colombia and South America, its habitat includes wet, swampy localities.
Marsilea is a genus of approximately 65 species of aquatic ferns of the family Marsileaceae. The name honours Italian naturalist Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (1656–1730).
Luronium natans is a species of aquatic plant commonly known as the floating water-plantain. It is the only recognized species in the genus Luronium, native to western and central Europe, from Spain to Britain to Norway east to Ukraine.
Azolla filiculoides is a species of aquatic fern. It is native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas, and has been introduced to Europe, North and sub-Saharan Africa, China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the Caribbean and Hawaii.
Marsilea quadrifolia is a herbaceous plant found naturally in central and southern Europe, Caucasia, western Siberia, Afghanistan, south-west India, China, Japan, and Vietnam, though it is considered a weed in some parts of the United States, where it has been well established in the northeast for over 100 years. Its common names include four leaf clover and European waterclover (USA), even though it is not a species of clover.
Potamogeton polygonifolius or bog pondweed is an aquatic plant. It is found in shallow, nutrient-poor, usually acid standing or running water, bogs, fens and occasionally ditches.
Asplenium antiquum is a fern of the family Aspleniaceae, commonly known as bird's-nest ferns. In Japanese, it is known by ō-tani-watari and tani-watari. It grows on cliffs, logs and rocks, near waterfalls, in damp forests, and on tree trunks in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. It is classified as an endangered species in both South Korea and Japan.
Bolbitis heteroclita is an aquatic fern species of Bolbitis, it is native to Southeast Asia and Melanesia, as well as parts of northeastern South Asia, southern East Asia, and Micronesia. It is commonly cultivated as an aquatic ornamental for aquariums and garden ponds.
Samea multiplicalis, the salvinia stem-borer moth, is an aquatic moth commonly found in freshwater habitats from the southern United States to Argentina, as well as in Australia where it was introduced in 1981. Salvinia stem-borer moths lay their eggs on water plants like Azolla caroliniana, Pistia stratiotes, and Salvinia rotundifolia. Larval feeding on host plants causes plant death, which makes S. multiplicalis a good candidate for biological control of weedy water plants like Salvinia molesta, an invasive water fern in Australia. However, high rates of parasitism in the moth compromise its ability to effectively control water weeds. S. multiplicalis larvae are a pale yellow to green color, and adults develop tan coloration with darker patterning. The lifespan, from egg to the end of adulthood is typically three to four weeks. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1854.
Salvinia minima is a species of aquatic, floating fern that grows on the surface of still waterways. It is usually referred to as common salvinia or water spangles. Salvinia minima is native to South America, Mesoamerica, and the West Indies and was introduced to the United States in the 1920s–1930s. It is classified as an invasive species internationally and can be detrimental to native ecosystems. This species is similar to but should not be confused with giant salvinia, Salvinia molesta.
The Salvinia effect describes the permanent stabilization of an air layer upon a hierarchically structured surface submerged in water. Based on biological models, biomimetic Salvinia-surfaces are used as drag reducing coatings (up to 30% reduction were previously measured on the first prototypes. When applied to a ship hull, the coating would allow the boat to float on an air-layer, reducing energy consumption and emissions. Such surfaces require an extremely water repellent super-hydrophobic surface and an elastic hairy structure in the millimeter range to entrap air while submerged. The Salvinia effect was discovered by the biologist and botanist Wilhelm Barthlott and his colleagues and has been investigated on several plants and animals since 2002. Publications and patents were published between 2006 and 2016. The best biological models are the floating ferns with highly sophisticated hierarchically structured hairy surfaces, and the back swimmers with a complex double structure of hairs and microvilli. Three of the ten known Salvinia species show a paradoxical chemical heterogeneity: hydrophilic hair tips, in addition to the super-hydrophobic plant surface, further stabilizing the air layer.
Surface tension is one of the areas of interest in biomimetics research. Surface tension forces will only begin to dominate gravitational forces below length scales on the order of the fluid's capillary length, which for water is about 2 millimeters. Because of this scaling, biomimetic devices that utilize surface tension will generally be very small, however there are many ways in which such devices could be used.
Phyllanthus fluitans, also known as the red root floater, floating spurge, or apple duckweed is a species of free floating aquatic plant and herbaceous perennial in the family Phyllanthaceae. This species is one of the only three non-terrestrial species in the genus Phyllanthus, with the other species being P. leonardianus and P. felicis. The generic name comes from Ancient Greek meaning leaf or a leaf flower, and the specific name comes from Latin meaning floating or float. It was described in March 1863 by George Bentham and Johannes Müller Argoviensis.
