Ludwigia brevipes |
Ludwigia repens |
|
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Long Beach primrose-willow, ludwigiantha brevipes |
creeping primrose-willow, creeping water primrose, creeping waterpurslane, red ludwigia |
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Habit | Herbs creeping and rooting at nodes, sometimes forming large mats. | Herbs creeping and rooting at nodes, often forming loose mats. |
Stems | prostrate, ascending or erect at tips, terete, well branched, 20–70 cm, glabrous or, sometimes, minutely strigillose on leaf margins and inflorescence. |
prostrate, ascending to suberect at tips, terete, sparsely branched, 30–80 cm, glabrous or, sometimes, minutely strigillose on leaf margins and inflorescence. |
Leaves | opposite; stipules narrowly deltate, 0.05–0.15 × 0.05–0.1 mm; petiole narrowly winged, 0.2–0.8 cm, blades on submerged stems linear, 3.2–4.7 × 0.2–0.3 cm, those on emergent ones oblanceolate-elliptic to narrowly oblanceolate, (0.7–)1–1.7(–2) × 0.2–0.7(–1.1) cm, base very narrowly cuneate or attenuate, margins entire, apex acute; bracts not reduced. |
opposite; stipules narrowly deltate, 0.05–0.1 × 0.05–0.1 mm; petiole narrowly winged, 0.3–2.3 cm, blade narrowly elliptic to broadly lanceolate-elliptic or suborbiculate, 0.8–4.5 × 0.4–2.7 cm, base attenuate, margins entire or sometimes with hydathodal glands, apex acute or apiculate, rarely obtuse, surfaces lustrous, subglabrous or sparingly to densely papillose strigillose; bracts not much reduced. |
Inflorescences | sometimes few-flowered, erect racemes, flowers paired in leaf axils of prostrate stems; bracteoles attached in opposite pairs at base of ovary or on pedicel distally, linear, 1–3(–4.5) × 0.1–0.7 mm, apex acuminate. |
sometimes few-flowered, erect racemes, flowers paired in leaf axils of prostrate stems; bracteoles attached in opposite pairs to pedicel 1–5 mm proximal to base of ovary, lanceolate to narrowly oblong-lanceolate or sublinear, 1–5(–8) × 0.2–1 mm, apex acute, surfaces sparingly minutely strigillose. |
Flowers | sepals slightly reflexed at anthesis, ascending in fruit, light green, ovate-deltate or narrowly so, (3.5–)4–5(–6) × 1.7–3 mm, with 3 parallel veins, margins strigillose and finely serrulate, apex narrowly acute to elongate-acuminate, surfaces glabrous; petals sometimes caducous, oblong-spatulate, 4.5–5.5 × 1.5–3 mm, base attenuate, apex obtuse; filaments spreading, pale cream, 1.8–2.5 mm, anthers 0.7–1 × 0.5–0.7 mm; pollen shed in very loose tetrads; ovary obconic-cylindric, subterete or scarcely 4-angled, 3–5 × 2–2.5 mm; nectary disc elevated 0.5–0.7 mm on ovary apex, bright yellow, 1.7–2.3 mm diam., 4-lobed, glabrate; style cream, 1.1–1.7 mm, stigma cream, broadly capitate, 0.4–0.6 × 0.5–0.8 mm, often exserted beyond spreading stamens. |
sepals ascending, light green, ovate deltate to narrowly so, 1.8–5 × 1.5–3.5 mm, margins minutely strigillose, apex acuminate to elongate-acuminate, surfaces subglabrous; petals caducous, oblanceolate to elliptic-oblong, 1.1–3 × 0.4–1.4 mm, base attenuate, apex obtuse, often variable in size and shape in same flower; filaments pale yellow, 0.5–1.5 mm, slightly inflated near base, anthers 0.4–0.9 × 0.3–0.8 mm; pollen shed singly or in tetrads; ovary obconic-cylindric, barely 4-angled to subterete, 2–6 × 2.5–3.5 mm; nectary disc elevated 0.3–0.8 mm on ovary apex, yellow, 1.1–3 mm diam., 4-lobed, glabrous; style pale yellow, 0.6–0.9 mm, glabrous, stigma pale yellow, broadly capitate, 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.8 mm, usually not exserted beyond anthers. |
Capsules | clavate, subterete to obscurely 4-angled, sometimes slightly curved, 6–10.5 × 2.5–4 mm, hard-walled, irregularly dehiscent, pedicel (4.5–)6–15(–20) mm. |
elongate-obpyramidal, 4-angled, corners sometimes rounded, 4–10 × 2.5–4 mm, hard-walled, irregularly dehiscent, pedicel 0.1–3 mm. |
Seeds | light to dark brown, ellipsoid, 0.6–0.7 × 0.3–0.5 mm, surface cells transversely elongate. |
yellowish brown, ellipsoid, 0.6–0.8 × 0.3–0.5 mm, surface cells transversely elongate. |
2n | = 48. |
= 48. |
Ludwigia brevipes |
Ludwigia repens |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Sep. | |
Habitat | Wet soil or sand along edges of ponds, lakes, marshes, or rivers, moist dune hollows, seasonal ponds. | |
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | |
Distribution |
FL; NC; NJ; SC; VA
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Discussion | The hexaploid Ludwigia brevipes is mainly restricted to the Atlantic coastal plain from central and eastern South Carolina to eastern North Carolina and extreme southeastern Virginia. The type collection of L. brevipes from middle New Jersey remains the only disjunct population north of the main range of this species more than 100 years after it was found. In 1988, an isolated population was found in the panhandle of Florida (Escambia County, Burkhalter 11065, MO) far to the southwest of the main range of L. brevipes; other reports of the species from Florida were erroneous (C. I. Peng 1989). Ludwigia brevipes is known to hybridize with L. palustris producing the sterile L. ×lacustris Eames. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Flowers Mar–Nov (year-round). Muddy or damp, sandy edges of pools, lakes, swamps, creeks, and roadside ditches, moist soil in solution pits in limerock and hammock clearings in Florida Everglades, shade or sun; 0–1200[–1600] m; Ala., Ariz., Calif., Fla., Ga., Kans., La., Miss., Nev., N.J., N.Mex., N.C., Okla., Oreg., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, México, Morelos, Nuevo León, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Sonora); West Indies (Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica); Bermuda; introduced in Asia (Bangladesh, Japan). Ludwigia repens occurs primarily on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the United States from North Carolina to Texas, with more scattered distribution into west Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas, and disjunct populations in New Jersey, Tennessee, southern Arizona, Nevada, California, and western Oregon (Marion County); it also occurs in northern and central Mexico and the Caribbean region. In some parts of this wide range it is considered an aquatic weed. Ludwigia repens is one of the most popular species of Ludwigia used in the aquarium trade; this may help to account for its wide distribution. Much like the related diploid Ludwigia palustris, the hexaploid L. repens is widespread and morphologically variable, and infraspecific taxa have been proposed to describe this variation. Given the tendency of species in sect. Isnardia to hybridize, and the lack of a geographical basis for much of the variation, C. I. Peng (1989) declined to adopt any infraspecific classification, and this treatment follows Peng. As described in C. I. Peng et al. (2005), Ludwigia repens J. R. Forster was conserved with a new type (the original type selected was from Virginia, where the species does not occur); L. repens Swartz (1797) was a later homonym described from Jamaica and pertains here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 10. | FNA vol. 10. |
Parent taxa | Onagraceae > subfam. Ludwigioideae > Ludwigia > sect. Isnardia | Onagraceae > subfam. Ludwigioideae > Ludwigia > sect. Isnardia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Ludwigiantha brevipes | Isnardia intermedia, I. natans, I. repens, I. repens var. rotundata, L. fluitans, L. natans, L. natans var. rotundata, L. natans var. stipitata, L. repens var. rotundata, L. repens var. stipitata |
Name authority | (Long) Eames: Rhodora 35: 228. (1933) — (as Ludvigia) | J. R. Forster: Fl. Amer. Sept., 6. (1771) — (as Ludvigia), name conserved |
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