Aponogeton
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 Aponogeton distachyos
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Aponogeton is a genus of 45 - 50 species of flowering plants, the only genus of the family Aponogetonaceae. The Aponogetonaceae is considered to be allied to the Potamogetonaceae - Najadaceae complex of familes.
The name was published in Supplementum Plantarum 32: 214 (1782). The name is derived from a geographic location. Some species are used as ornamental plants in aquaria.
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[edit] Distribution
They are aquatic plants, which are found in tropical to warm temperate regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.[1]
Aponogeton distachyos originally from South Africa has become naturalised in s. Australia, w. South America and W. Europe.
Individual plants are not always easy to identify due to hybridization (particularly those sold as A. crispus - which are often cultivated hybrids with A. natans).
Generally an Aponogeton from Asia will have a single bloom, while those from African heritage (including Madagascar) will have multiple blooms on the same flower stalk.
[edit] Ecology
Many species grow in temporarily still or flowing waters and live through the dry period as a dormant tuber.
They are fully aquatic herbaceous plants with milky sap, becoming dormant during drought conditions. Most species grow from tubers. Most Asian species remain submerged all year round, whilst the starchy tubercles of the African species are able to survive the dry season by shedding their leaves and undergoing a dormant period.
[edit] Economic uses
The tubers of several; species are eaten by humans and their livestock. Some are grown as ornamental plants in aquariums or ponds.
[edit] Selected species
- Aponogeton abyssinicus Hochst. ex A.Rich.
- Aponogeton afroviolaceus Lye
- Aponogeton angustifolius Ait.
- Aponogeton azureus H.Bruggen
- Aponogeton bernerianus (Decne.) Hook.
- Aponogeton biovinianus Baill. ex Jum.
- Aponogeton bogneri H.Bruggen
- Aponogeton crispus Thunb.
- Aponogeton desertorum Zeyh. ex A.Spreng.
- Aponogeton distachyos L.f.
- Aponogeton elongatus F.Muell. ex Benth.
- Aponogeton fotianus J.Raynal
- Aponogeton junceus Lehm.
- Aponogeton longiplumulosus van Bruggen (1968)
- Aponogeton madagascariensis (Mirb.) H.Bruggen
- Aponogeton natalensis Oliv.
- Aponogeton natans (L.) Engl. & K.Krause
- Aponogeton nudiflorus Peter.
- Aponogeton ranunculiflorus Jacot Guill. & Marais
- Aponogeton rehmannii Oliv.
- Aponogeton rigidifolius H.Bruggen
- Aponogeton stuhlmannii Engl.
- Aponogeton subconjugatus Schumach. & Thonn.
- Aponogeton troupinii J.Raynal
- Aponogeton ulvaceus Bak.
- Aponogeton undulatus Roxb.
- Aponogeton vallisnerioides Baker
[edit] Cultivation
Most are relatively easy to grow in cultivation except the notorious Madagascar Lace Plant (A. madagascarensis )
[edit] Rest periods
The African species in particular (with the exception of A. rigidifolius that has a rhizome and not a tuber) experience a natural rest period, corresponding to their habitat drying out in the wild. The Asian species may also have a rest period, but this is temperature related.
As the plant stops growing it can be taken out of the pond or aquarium and put in a bowl of damp sand. Keep the bowl in a dark, cool place with the sand kept damp for approximately 2 - 3 months at a temperature of about 50 - 64F (10 - 18C) until small leaves are seen to sprout from the tuber when they can be returned to the pond or aquarium to grow away again.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Watson, L. & Dallwitz, M. J. (1992 onwards): Aponogetonaceae
- ^ African Flowering Plants Database: Aponogeton
- ^ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
- ^ Gesting, B. Nature and Aquarium
- Bruggen, H. W. van, Monograph of the genus Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae), 1985
- Heywood, V. H. (ed), Flowering Plants of the World, OUP, 1978
- Rataj, K. and Horeman, T. J., Aquarium Plants, TFH Publications, 1977
