Ludwigia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ludwigia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Myrtales Family: Onagraceae Genus: Ludwigia L.
Species
See text.

Ludwigia (primrose-willow, water-purslane, or water-primrose) is a genus of about 75 species of aquatic plants with a cosmopolitan but mainly tropical distribution.

Selected species

Ludwigia adscendens Ludwigia alata Ludwigia alternifolia Ludwigia anastomosans Ludwigia arcuata Ludwigia bonariensis Ludwigia brevipes Ludwigia curtissii Ludwigia decurrens Ludwigia erecta Ludwigia glandulosa Ludwigia grandiflora Ludwigia helminthorrhiza Ludwigia hirtella Ludwigia hexapetala Ludwigia hyssopifolia Ludwigia inclinata Ludwigia lanceolata Ludwigia leptocarpa Ludwigia linearis

Ludwigia linifolia Ludwigia longifolia Ludwigia maritima Ludwigia microcarpa Ludwigia natans Ludwigia octovalvis Ludwigia palustris Ludwigia peploides Ludwigia peruviana Ludwigia pilosa Ludwigia polycarpa Ludwigia ravenii Ludwigia repens Ludwigia sedioides Ludwigia simpsonii Ludwigia spathulata Ludwigia sphaerocarpa Ludwigia suffruticosa Ludwigia virgata

At current, there is much debate among botanists and plant taxonomists as to the classification of many Ludwigia species. Botanists from the US Department of Agriculture are currently doing genetic analyses on plants from the Western US and South America to better classify members of this genus.

The genus was named by Carolus Linnaeus after Christian Gottlieb Ludwig (1709-1773), a German botanist, who was apparently not amused by this honour.

[edit] External resources

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=13118
• http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=27334
• http://www.pondplants.com/FAQ_Plants_Ludwigia.html