Pistia stratiotes L.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Araceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Floating acaulescent stoloniferous herb, forming large colonies. Leaves subsessile, in a rosette; blades 3-12 x 1.5-5 cm, cuneate, fleshy, with sunken parallel veins, impermeably pubescent, the apex rounded, truncate, usually notched, the base cuneate, the margins revolute. Inflorescence axillary, solitary, ascending; peduncles 5-7 mm long, slender; spathe 1.3-1.5 cm long, convolute and adnate to the spadix below, spreading above, whitish; spadix with a single pistillate flower at base, and with 2-8 staminate flowers above, shorter than the spathe. Flowers unisexual, the perianth wanting; stamens 2; ovary l-locular, with numerous ovules, the style slender, the stigma penicillate. Fruit thin-walled, many-seeded. Seeds cylindrical, rugulose.
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Distribution
Not common, found in fresh-water cisterns or pools, sometimes cultivated. Annaberg Ruins (A2866). Also on St. Thomas; a variable species found throughout tropical and subtropical regions.
Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America|