Pontederiaceae (Water Hyacinth family)

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) >  Monocotyledons >  Order: Commelinales

Water or marsh plants. There are nine genera and 33 species (tropics, extending to temperate regions), with three genera and three species indigenous to southern Africa, and one genus and two species (both aquatic weeds) naturalised in the region. One of the latter species is Eichornia crassipes (Water hyacinth), which is a particularly invasive species that clogs waterways.

Genera indigenous to southern Africa

List from Glen (2000).

Eichhornia Seven species (tropical America and Africa), with one species, Eichhornia natans, indigenous to southern Africa and another species, Eichornia crassipes (Water hyacinth), a troublesome introduced aquatic weed in the region.
Heteranthera About nine species (African and American tropics and subtropics), with one species, Heteranthera callifolia, indigenous to southern Africa.
Monochoria Eight species (tropical Africa, Asia and Australia), with one species, Monochoria africana, indigenous to southern Africa (Mpumalanga).

Genera naturalised in southern Africa

Pontederia Four species (warm regions of America), with one species, Pontederia cordata (Pickerel weed), which is naturalised and a declared Category 3 invasive plant in South Africa.

Publications

• Glen, R.P. 2000. Pontederiaceae. In: Seed Plants of Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 726-728. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.

• Glen, R.P. and Cook, C.D.K. 2003. Pontederiaceae. In Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds), Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14: 1194. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.