Common Name: WATERSHIELD FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb, aquatic, rhizomes in mud. Stem: elongate, leafy, ends floating. Leaf: of 2 kinds: submersed, palmately dissected, opposite [whorled], short-petioled, not peltate; floating, simple, alternate, petioled, peltate, entire; stipules 0. Inflorescence: flowers 1 on long axillary peduncles, generally on or above water surface. Flower: bisexual, parts +- free; sepals, petals each 3[4], alternate, persistent; stamens 3--6 or 18--36(51), filaments slender, anthers opening lengthwise; carpels [1]2--18, ovaries superior, 1-chambered, ovules [1]2--3[5]. Fruit: achene- or follicle-like, indehiscent. Seed: 1--3, aril 0.
Genera In Family: 2 genera, 6 species: temperate, tropical America, Africa, eastern Asia, Australia; some Cabomba species cultivated for aquaria. Note: Separation from Nymphaeaceae (carpels fused, fruits berry-like) confirmed by molecular data (Les et al. 1999 Syst Bot 24:28--46).
Unabridged Note: Pollinated by wind (Brasenia) or insects (Cabomba).
eFlora Treatment Author: Thomas J. Rosatti
Scientific Editor: Bruce G. Baldwin, Robert E. Preston.