Sclerolepis

Sclerolepis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Eupatorieae
Genus: Sclerolepis
Cass.
Binomial name
Sclerolepis uniflora
(Walter) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.

Sclerolepis is an aquatic plant native to the eastern United States. It has only one known species, Sclerolepis uniflora. lives in ponds and other wet areas. When water is abundant, the plant lives underwater, with long stems and flaccid, elongated leaves, and does not flower. When the water level drops, it assumes a form more familiar in terrestrial plants, with an erect stem, and flowers in summer to fall. The flowers are pink.[1][2][3]

Sclerolepis is fairly common in the southeastern United States, from Alabama and Florida to North Carolina, and has more sparse distribution as far north as New Hampshire.[1]

Classification

Sclerolepis is in the tribe Eupatorieae of the aster family. It is thought to be related to two other aquatic genera in this tribe, Shinnersia and Trichocoronis.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sclerolepis Cassini". Flora of North America.
  2. ↑ Godfrey, R. K. & J. W. Wooten. 1981. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States Dicotyledons 1–944. Univ. Georgia Press, Athens
  3. ↑ Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida i–x, 1–806. University Press of Florida, Gainesville
  4. ↑ "Shinnersia rivularis (A. Gray) R. M. King & H. Robinson". Flora of North America.

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