Azolla nilotica Decne. ex Mett.
Synonyms |
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Common name |
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Description |
Rhizome horizontal, branched with the secondary branches alternately pinnately arranged, up to 2 mm in diameter, up to 32 cm long, hairy, with numerous hairy roots in fascicles from the nodes. Leaves 2-lobed; upper lobe broadly ovate to elliptic in outline, apex rounded to broadly pointed, margins forming a broad translucent wing, up to 2 mm long, green, papillate in the centre; lower lobe smaller and thin, colourless. Plant heterosporous; sporocarps in the leaf axils, only on the older parts of the plant. |
Notes | A. nilotica has a thick cluster of roots at the nodes, whereas A. pinnata and A. filiculoides have a single, or 2 or 3 roots from the nodes. |
Derivation | nilotica: from the valley of the Nile, this fern was first collected on the Nile. |
Habitat | Wet mud and shallow water in stagnant or sluggish streams, river backwaters, lake edges, temporary pools, apparently intolerant of shade and not in forest pools. |
Distribution worldwide | See African distribution. |
Distribution in Africa |
Burundi, Dem. Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, Tanzania , Zambia, Zimbabwe. |
Growth form |
Aquatic. |
Literature |
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