Pontederiaceae
Perennial herb, rooting in the substrate or freely floating on the water surface. Stem erect. Leaves conspicuous, thick, held above the water surface, usually abruptly narrowed basally and appearing petiolate, with fine curving veins following the curvature of the leaf margin. Flowers large, actinomorphic or zygomorphic, bisexual, solitary or in a spike-like inflorescence, subtended by 1 or 2 primary bracts, one of which is sometimes leaf-like. Perianth petaloid, with 2 whorls of 3 segments each, soon withering, segments basally united into a short or long tube; lobes sub-equal; stamens 6, 3 or 1, inserted on perianth, often unequal; anthers dorsifixed (in Victoria); ovary superior, 1-or 3-locular; style 1, thread-like. Fruit a 3-chambered loculicidal capsule or 1-chambered and indehiscent; seeds endospermic, 1 or numerous.
9 genera with c. 25 species, mostly confined to the tropics; 3 genera naturalised in Australia, 2 in Victoria.
Only found in fresh water, some cultivated as garden ornamentals. A few species have become serious weeds throughout the world.
Conn, B.J. (1994). Pontederiaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 634–637. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
