Azolla africana Desv.
Azollla pinnata R.Br. var. africana (Desv.) Baker
Azolla guineensis Schumach.

Rhizome horizontal, branched into 3-5 alternate pinnae, up to 0.2 mm in diameter, with roots single or in fascicles of 2-3 at the branche nodes, up to 3.5 cm long, hairy, with conspicuous root cap. Leaves minute in 2 rows, 2-lobed, dark green; upper lobe ovate to broadly elliptic in outline, apex pointed, margin translucent, up to 1.1 mm long, papillate in the centre; lower lobe more or less equal in size, colourless. Plant heterosporous, sporocarps on the submerged lower lobes of the leaves.

It can be distinguished from A. filliculoides by its somewhat smaller size, hairy roots and clearly pinnate branching structure. A. nilotica differs from A. pinnate in having numerous (5 or more) roots per node (not 2-3) and in being larger and more branched.

pinnata: with pinnate leaves, refers to the distinctly pinnate arrangements of the branches of the stem.

Forms dense mats on shallow water or lakes, ponds, backwaters of rivers, papyrus swamps, neglected paddy fields.

Africa, Madagascar, New Guinea, Australia.

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Fasso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan and South Sudan, Tanzania , Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Aquatic.