Nymphoides crenata, commonly known as wavy marshwort, is an aquatic perennial herb of the family Menyanthaceae endemic to Australia,[4] found in all mainland states and the Northern Territory[5][6][7]
Nymphoides crenata | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Menyanthaceae |
Genus: | Nymphoides |
Species: | N. crenata
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Binomial name | |
Nymphoides crenata | |
Occurrence data from AVH | |
Synonyms[3] | |
Limnanthemum crenatum F.Muell. |
It is a stoloniferous, floating, perennial with stems up to 3 m long. The petioles of the basal leaves are from 8–42 cm long. The leaf lamina are ovate to circular, and deeply cordate and vary from 3 to 15 cm in length. The stem leaves are smaller, and sometimes kidney-shaped. The flowers heterostylous, (see the gallery) and there can be from 8 to14 in clusters subtended by 1–4 stem leaves, or sometimes in spaced pairs along a short inflorescence. The calyx is from 5.5 to 16 mm long and the corolla from 20 to 50 mm in diameter. There are usually 4 lobes (sometimes 4 or 6) and there are usually 5 stigmas (but from 2-5).[6]
It grows on floodplains,[8] in swamps, lagoons, irrigation channels, and also in temporarily inundated depressions,[6] and in slow-flowing streams where the depth of the water is up to about 1.5 m deep, usually on mud, and it will persist on drying mud.[4]
Nymphoides crenata was first described as Limnanthemum crenatum in 1854 by Ferdinand von Mueller.[1][9] In 1891, Otto Kuntze transferred it to the genus, Nymphoides.[1][2]