Enhalus

Enhalus acoroides

Enhalus acoroides is the only species of the plant genus Enhalus within the family of frog bite plants ( Hydrocharitaceae ). This submerged aquatic plant is found along the coast of the Indian and western Pacific Ocean.

Description

The roots are robust, 10 to 20 inches long and have a diameter of 3 to 5 millimeters. The leaves measure 0.3 to 1.5 meters × 1 to 2 inches. They are entire, have a blunt tip and have 13 to 19 leaf veins.

The stalk of the male inflorescence is about 5 inches long. The bracts are sessile, slightly keeled and their midrib hairy. The male flowers are stalked. The sepals are white, oblong and about 2 millimeters long. The petals are also white, but larger than the sepals. The stamens are 1.5 to 2 millimeters in size and white. The female flowers have a 50 -inch-long flower stalk, which is rotated and contracted after flowering time. The bracts measure 4-6 × 1-2 cm, their midrib is keeled and hairy in appearance. The sepals are reddish. The petals are 4 to 5 inches × 3 to 4 millimeters in size, white, folded ribbon-shaped and strong. The ovary is ovoid and has long hair on. The fruits are egg-shaped and 5-7 inches tall. The seeds are angled and have a diameter of 1 to 1.5 centimeters.

The flowering period is in May.

Occurrence

Enhalus acoroides occurs along the coast of the Indian and western Pacific Ocean from Africa to India and Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia to China (Hainan ) and the Philippines to the north and Australia. She lives along the coast submerged in the shallow sea.

System

The first description under the name ( basionym ) Stratiotes acoroides in 1782 by Carl Linnaeus the Younger. John Forbes Royle they put 1839 in the genus Enhalus. A synonym for Enhalus acoroides L. f is Enhalus koenigii Richard. Enhalus acoroides is the only species of the genus within the family Enhalus Hydrocharitaceae.

Documents

  • Qingfeng Wang, Youhao Guo, Robert R. Haynes, C. Barre Hellquist: Enhalus acoroides. In: Flora of China Volume 23 Hydrocharitaceae. P. 91 and 97 ( genus and species )
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