''Alisma'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family

Alismataceae The water-plantains (Alismataceae) are a family of flowering plants, comprising 19 genera (17 extant and 2 fossil) and 117 species. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, with the greatest number of species in temperate regions of the Northe ...

, members of which are commonly known as water-plantains. The genus consists of aquatic plants with leaves either floating or submerged, found in a variety of still water habitats around the world (nearly worldwide).Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are hermaphrodite, and are arranged in panicles, racemes, or

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

s. ''Alisma'' flowers have six stamens, numerous free

carpel Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) '' pistils' ...

s in a single whorl, each with 1 ovule, and subventral styles. The fruit is an achene with a short beak. The nineteenth century

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

art and social critic

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

believed that the particular curve of the leaf-ribs of ''Alisma'' represented a model of ' divine proportion' and helped shape his theory of

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

.J. Mordaunt Crook, "Ruskinian Gothic" in The Ruskin Polygon: Essays on the Imagination of John Ruskin ed. John Dixon Hunt and Faith M. Holland (Manchester University Press, 1982) pp. 65–93. ''Copóg Phádraig'' ("Patrick's leaf") is the Irish name for the water-plantain. It is reputed to ward off fairies. Water plantains are perennial plants. These herbs are usually emergent plants high. They have broad leaves that can be either tapered or rounded at the base. When submerged, the plant produces ribbon-like leaves. Inflorescences are highly branched. They produce

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

of perfect flowers either white or pinkish. The fruits are flat-sided nutlets in length. These herbs usually flower in late May to early September, but this can vary with conditions.Gleason and Cronquist (1991); Fernald (1970); Voss (1972). Water-plantains are

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

plants and found in saturated soils and shallow water as well as

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es, wooded swamps, shrub swamps and flooded farmland. When introduced to an area, water plantain can rapidly reproduce.

Species and subspecies

The following taxa are recognized as of May 2014: *'' Alisma × bjoerkqvistii'' Tzvelev -

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

* '' Alisma canaliculatum''

A.Braun Alexander Carl Heinrich Braun (10 May 1805 – 29 March 1877) was a German botanist from Regensburg, Bavaria. His research centered on the morphology of plants. Biography He studied botany in Heidelberg, Paris and Munich. In 1833 he began teachi ...

& C.D.Bouché - eastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

* '' Alisma gramineum'' Lej. -

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

; minor naturalization in North America *'' Alisma × juzepczukii'' Tzvelev -

* '' Alisma lanceolatum'' Withering -

; naturalized in Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

etc. * '' Alisma nanum'' D.F.Cui -

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

* '' Alisma orientale'' * ''

Alisma plantago-aquatica ''Alisma plantago-aquatica'', also known as European water-plantain, common water-plantain or mad-dog weed, is a perennial flowering aquatic plant widespread across most of Europe and Asia, and apparently spread elsewhere in both the Old and Ne ...

'' L. -

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

**''Alisma plantago-aquatica'' subsp. ''orientale'' (Sam.) Sam. **''Alisma plantago-aquatica'' subsp. ''plantago-aquatica'' *'' Alisma × rhicnocarpum'' Schotsman - western Europe * '' Alisma subcordatum'' Raf. eastern North America * '' Alisma triviale''

Pursh The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

- North America * '' Alisma wahlenbergii'' ( Holmb.) Juz.

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

region

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q157350 Alismataceae genera Freshwater plants Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus