Flora of North America species comparison

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Aponogeton distachyos

Cape-pondweed, water-hawthorne, waterblommetjie
Leaves

floating;

petiole to 100 cm;

blade ovate, narrowly oval, or narrowly lanceolate, 6–23 × 1.5–7.5 cm, base rounded to attenuate, apex obtuse to acute;

veins 7–9.
Inflorescences

spikes 1 or more, to 4.5 cm;

spathe ca. 3 cm.
Flowers

in 2 rows, secund;

tepals becoming green, enlarging, 10–15 × 3.5–6 mm, to 30 mm in fruit;

veins 13 or more;

stamens 3–4.5 mm;

filaments expanded basally;

anthers blackish purple;

pollen yellow;

pistils 2.5–3 × 0.7–1 mm;

ovules usually 4.
Fruits

to 22 × 6 mm;

beak 5 mm.

Aponogeton distachyos
Phenology Flowering late winter–spring (Mar–Apr), fall (Oct–Nov).
Habitat Quiet ponds
Elevation 0–550 m (0–1800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; South America; Europe; Africa; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Aponogeton distachyos is native to temperate South Africa and has become widely established in Australia. It is very popular in water gardening because it blooms during the cooler periods of the year. The plant does not do well in the heat of the summer. It flowers early in the growing season, goes dormant during the summer, and flowers again late in the season. Where the weather is mild, it will flower all winter. Presently, it is known in North America only from central-coastal and southern California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 22.
Parent taxa Aponogetonaceae > Aponogeton
Synonyms A. distachyos var. lagrangei
Name authority LinneausLinnaeus f.: Supplementum Plantarum 32, 214. 1782 (as distachyon)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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