Salvinia, the sole
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
in the
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
Salviniaceae, is a floating fern. The Salviniaceae are related to the other water ferns, including the
Mosquito fernAzolla is a genus of seven species of aquatic ferns, the only genus in the family Azollaceae...
,
Azolla. Recent sources include both
Azolla and
Salvinia in Salviniaceae, although each genus was formerly given its own family.
Described by
SéguierJean François Séguier de Nîmes was a French astronomer and botanist.Botanical works include:* Plantae Veronenses, seu Stirpium quae in agro Veronensi repriuntur ....
, in Pl. Veron. 3: 52. 1754.
Salviniaceae and the other fern families in
orderIn scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Salviniales are heterosporous, producing spores of differing sizes.
Leaf development in Salvinia is unique.
Salvinia, the sole
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
in the
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
Salviniaceae, is a floating fern. The Salviniaceae are related to the other water ferns, including the
Mosquito fernAzolla is a genus of seven species of aquatic ferns, the only genus in the family Azollaceae...
,
Azolla. Recent sources include both
Azolla and
Salvinia in Salviniaceae, although each genus was formerly given its own family.
Described by
SéguierJean François Séguier de Nîmes was a French astronomer and botanist.Botanical works include:* Plantae Veronenses, seu Stirpium quae in agro Veronensi repriuntur ....
, in Pl. Veron. 3: 52. 1754.
Salviniaceae and the other fern families in
orderIn scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Salviniales are heterosporous, producing spores of differing sizes.
Leaf development in Salvinia is unique. The upper side of the floating leaf, which appears to face the stem axis, is morphologically abaxial (J. G. Croxdale 1978, 1979, 1981).
About ten
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
exist.
The plants pose a particular hindrance on certain lakes, having choked off much of the water in
Lake BistineauLake Bistineau is a long, narrow waterway of 15,550 acres, 1.25 miles wide and 14 miles long located in Webster, Bossier, and Bienville parishes in northwestern Louisiana. The lake is fed by Dorcheat Bayou, Clark’s Bayou, and other smaller streams. Bistineau is connected to the Red River and hence...
near
DoylineDoyline is a village in southwestern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 841 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
in
Webster ParishWebster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2000, its population was 41,831....
,
LouisianaThe State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Other problems have persisted in a second Webster Parish site,
Caney Lakes Recreation AreaNot to be confused with another Caney Lake at Jimmie Davis State Park southwest of Chatham in Jackson Parish, LouisianaCaney Lakes Recreation Area is located in the Kisatchie National Forest north of Minden in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana...
.
Distribution
Mostly tropical,
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, West Indies,
Central AmericaManagua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
,
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
,
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
,
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
including
MadagascarMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to...
.
Description
Small, floating aquatics with creeping stems, branched, bearing hairs but no true roots. Leaves in whorls of 3, with 2 leaves green, sessile or short-petioled, flat, entire, and floating, 1 leaf finely dissected, petiolate, rootlike, and pendent. Submerged leaves bearing sori that are surrounded by basifixed membranous indusia (sporocarps); sporocarps of 2 types, bearing either megasporangia that are few in number (ca. 10), each with single megaspore, or many microsporangia, each with 64 microspores. Spores of 2 kinds and sizes, both globose, trilete. Megagametophytes and microgametophytes protruding through sporangium wall; megagametophytes floating on water surface with archegonia directed downward; microgametophytes remaining fixed to sporangium wall. The small, hairlike growths, known as microgametical follicles, are not known to have any productive function, and are currently a biological mystery.
Economic Uses
Giant salviniaSalvinia molesta, commonly known as Giant salvinia or kariba weed after it infested a large portion of the reservoir of the same name, is an aquatic fern, native to south-eastern Brazil. It is a free floating plant that does not attach to the soil, but instead remains buoyant on the surface of a...
(
Salvinia molesta) is a commonly introduced invasive weed in warm climates. It grows rapidly and forms dense mats over still waters. It is native to South America. A tiny
weevilA weevil is any beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than 6 mm , and herbivorous. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae...
,
Cyrtobagous salviniaeCyrtobagous salviniae is a species of weevil known as the salvinia weevil. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious aquatic plant giant salvinia ....
, has been used successfully to control giant salvinia.
S.
natans is commonly used in aquariums as a decorative floating plant.
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Sources