922.000 Pontederia L.

Herbs, annual or perennial, rooted in mud; vegetative stems submerged and growing to surface, or rhizomatous. Sessile leaves forming basal rosette, lamina thin. Petiolate leaves floating or emersed; lamina cordate to reniform; apex obtuse to acuminate. Inflorescences spicate, commonly 50 or more-flowered, elongating over many days; spathes folded; apex acute; peduncle glandular, pubescent or pilose. Flowers open for one day only; perianth mauve, blue or white, funnelform, limb lobes oblong. Fruit utriculate, ovoid, with spinulose, dentate or smooth longitudinal ridges. Seeds 1 ovoid, smooth.

Derivation of name: after Guilio Pontedera (1688-1757) an Italian botanist and correspondent of Linnaeus

Worldwide: 27 species throughout the Southern Hemisphere but also in Northern temperate America and Asia. Some introduced in Europe.

Botswana: 2 taxa.