Caldesia

Caldesia
Caldesia parnassifolia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Alismataceae
Genus: Caldesia
Parl.
Species

See text

Caldesia is a genus of aquatic plants. It includes three living species widespread across Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.[1][2][3] The genus "has an extensive Oligocene through Pleistocene fossil record in Eurasia,"[4] and has been found in fossil strata of the United States (Idaho and Vermont) as well. Ten fossil species have been described for the genus.

Taxonomy[edit]

The genus name of Caldesia is in honour of Ludovico (Luigi) Caldesi (1821 - 1884), an Italian politician and botanist.[5]

The genus was circumscribed by Filippo Parlatore in Fl. Ital. Vol.3 on page 598 in 1860.

Description[edit]

Leaves all basal, floating or aerial, ovate to elliptical, cordate or subcordate. Flowers hermaphrodite, in racemes or panicles. Stamens 6(-11). Carpels few or numerous in a single whorl, free, each with 1 ovule; styles subventral. Fruitlets drupaceous, with woody endocarp and spongy exocarp, swollen, with a short subventral beak, smooth or with tubercles or spines.

Selected species[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". apps.kew.org. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  2. ^ Altervista Flora Italiana, Mestolaccia minore, Parnassus Leaved Water Plantain, Caldesia parnassifolia
  3. ^ "Caldesia in Flora of China @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  4. ^ Haggard, Kristina K.; Tiffney, Bruce H. (1997). "The Flora of the Early Miocene Brandon Lignite, Vermont, USA. VIII. Caldesia (Alismataceae)". American Journal of Botany. 84 (2). American Journal of Botany, Vol. 84, No. 2: 239–252. doi:10.2307/2446086. JSTOR 2446086.
  5. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. Retrieved January 27, 2022.