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large-flower primrose-willow, Uruguayan primrose-willow

Mexican primrose-willow

Habit Herbs, subshrubs, or emergent aquatics, rooting at lower nodes, sometimes woody at base, white pneumatophores 8–10 cm often on submerged stems. Herbs (robust)or shrubs, herbs tap-rooted, often woody at base, with peeling bark.
Stems

erect or ascending to creeping or floating, terete or sometimes angled distally, 20–300(–450) cm, usually densely branched, sometimes simple, glabrous if floating, or densely villous and viscid throughout, or rarely just on inflorescence.

erect to spreading, terete or sometimes ridged, 60–250(–400) cm, densely branched, densely villous to glabrate, especially near base.

Leaves

stipules (rarely in clusters of 3), ovate-deltate, 0.6–2 × 0.6–1.5 mm, fleshy, apex subacute, often mucronate;

petiole 0.1–1.1 cm;

blade usually lanceolate to (narrowly) elliptic or oblanceolate, rarely narrowly obovate, (1.7–)3.1–8(–10.5) × 0.5–2(–2.5) cm, chartaceous, viscid, base cuneate or attenuate, margins entire, apex obtuse or acute, always glandular-mucronate, surfaces densely villous, sometimes less dense adaxially, distal leaves more pubescent than proximal ones;

bracts scarcely reduced.

stipules deltate, 0.5–0.8 × 0.6–0.7 mm, fleshy;

petiole 0–1 cm;

blade linear to oblong or oblanceolate, sometimes narrowly ovate, 0.7–14.5 × 0.1–4 cm, base tapered, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces ± densely villous or strigillose;

bracts not or scarcely reduced.

Inflorescences

on emergent stems sometimes in leafy racemes, flowers solitary in leaf axils;

bracteoles narrowly to broadly obovate, 1–1.2 × 0.7–0.8 mm, succulent, apex acute, oppositely attached at ovary base.

open, leafy racemes, flowers solitary in axils, presentation often radial;

bracteoles ovate, 3–8 × 1.4–4 mm, apex acuminate, attached near base of ovary.

Flowers

sepals usually deciduous, not persistent on capsule, lanceolate, 6–12(–16) × 2–4 mm, chartaceous, apex acute, surfaces densely villous;

petals yellow, fan-shaped, (12–)16–20(–26) × 11–16(–21) mm, apex rounded, usually emarginate, rarely mucronate;

stamens 10(or 12), in 2 unequal series, yellow, filaments reflexed, shorter ones (2.8–)3.8–5.3 mm, longer ones (3.7–)6–6.5 mm, anthers oblong, 1–2.5 × (0.6–)0.8–1.2 mm;

ovary subcylindric, terete, 6–12 × 1.5–2.5 mm, apex thickened, densely villous;

nectary disc slightly raised on ovary apex, yellow, 1.5–2.5 mm diam., lobed, ringed with villous hairs;

style yellow, 4.7–6.7(–8) mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent near base, stigma subcapitate-globose, 1–1.3 × 1.6–2.5 mm, usually exserted beyond anthers.

sepals lanceolate to ovate, (6–)8–13 × 3–7 mm, apex acuminate, surfaces strigillose adaxially;

petals bright yellow, fan-shaped, (5–)10–20 × 5–20 mm, apex sometimes shallowly notched;

stamens 8 in 2 subequal series, yellowish white, filaments spreading, 4–6 mm, anthers oblong, 2.5–5 × 1–2 mm;

pollen shed in tetrads or sometimes polyads;

ovary cylindric, 4-angled, sometimes slightly twisted, 8–22 × 1–3 mm;

nectary disc elevated 0.4–0.5 mm on ovary apex, 1–2.4 mm diam., with 4 white-pubescent sunken lobes opposite petals;

style 2.5–3.5 mm, stigma capitate-globose, 1.8–3.5 × 2.5–3.5 mm, surrounded by anthers and pollen shed directly on it.

Capsules

subcylindric, terete, straight or curved, (11–)14–25 × 3–4 mm, with thick woody walls, irregularly and tardily dehiscent, villous-viscid, pedicel 13–25(–27) mm.

cylindric to clavate-cylindric, subterete to ± 4-angled, 17–50 × 2.5–8 mm, thin-walled, irregularly dehiscent by 4–8 linear valves splitting from apex, short-villous, pedicel 5–25 mm.

Seeds

embedded in wedge-shaped piece of endocarp, 0.8–1 × 0.8–0.9 mm.

in several indistinct rows per locule, broad-cylindric with rounded ends, 0.6–0.9 × 0.5–0.8 mm, raphe inflated and nearly equal to seed body.

2n

= 48.

= [16], 32, 48.

Ludwigia grandiflora

Ludwigia octovalvis

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering summer–early fall.
Habitat Wet places, along slow-moving rivers, streams, canals, ditches, often growing into main channel as aquatic weed. Wet or moist places, along coasts, streams, ditches, swamps, often near disturbance or cultivation.
Elevation 0–200[–1200] m. (0–700[–3900] ft.) 0–300[–2200] m. (0–1000[–7200] ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; FL; GA; KY; LA; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OK; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WA; WV; Central America (Guatemala); South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; s Asia; e Asia (Burma, China, India, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam); Africa; Indian Ocean Islands (Comoros Islands, Madagascar); Pacific Islands (New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ludwigia grandiflora occurs in two disjunct areas: the southeastern United States on the coastal plain of southern South Carolina, Georgia, northern Florida, Louisiana, west to central Texas, and recently in southern California (P. C. Hoch and B. J. Grewell 2012) and Oregon; and central South America from south of the Amazon basin of Brazil and Bolivia where it is very scattered, to Uruguay, northeastern Argentina, and Paraguay where it is very frequent. It has been collected three times in Guatemala and twice in Missouri, although it is not clearly established in either region. It usually grows below 200 m elevation, but in Guatemala and in Santa Catarina, Brazil (Smith & , MO), it has been collected as high as Klein 133831200 m elevation. Populations of L. grandiflora in the United States are fairly variable, although not as much as in South American populations.

As noted by Greuter and Burdet, the publication of Jussiaea grandiflora Ruíz & Pavon, which was a synonym of J. peruviana, occurred in 1830, not in 1802 as reported (P. A. Munz 1942; P. H. Raven 1963[1964]). Therefore, J. grandiflora Michaux in 1803 is legitimate, and J. grandiflora Ruíz & Pavon is an illegitimate homonym.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Ludwigia octovalvis is perhaps the most widespread species of Ludwigia worldwide and exhibits a very complex pattern of morphological and ecological variation, correlated only in part with multiple ploidy levels; this complexity is reflected in its extensive synonymy. P. H. Raven (1963[1964]), P. A. Munz (1942, 1965), and others have proposed formal classifications to account for this variation, with mixed results and additional study using more powerful analytical tools is clearly needed in order to develop a more stable classification. In the absence of better understanding, and despite some correlated patterns of morphological and geographical variation on a global scale, this treatment does not recognize infraspecific taxa.

Jussiaea hirsuta Velloso, J. suffruticosa var. angustifolia Chodat & Hassler, J. velutina Kunze, and Ludwigia suffruticosa (Linnaeus) M. Gómez are later homonyms; these four names pertain 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. Jussiaea Onagraceae > subfam. Ludwigioideae > Ludwigia > sect. Macrocarpon
Sibling taxa
L. alata, L. alternifolia, L. arcuata, L. bonariensis, L. brevipes, L. curtissii, L. decurrens, L. erecta, L. glandulosa, L. hexapetala, L. hirtella, L. lanceolata, L. leptocarpa, L. linearis, L. linifolia, L. maritima, L. microcarpa, L. octovalvis, L. palustris, L. peploides, L. peruviana, L. pilosa, L. polycarpa, L. ravenii, L. repens, L. simpsonii, L. spathulata, L. sphaerocarpa, L. suffruticosa, L. virgata
L. alata, L. alternifolia, L. arcuata, L. bonariensis, L. brevipes, L. curtissii, L. decurrens, L. erecta, L. glandulosa, L. grandiflora, L. hexapetala, L. hirtella, L. lanceolata, L. leptocarpa, L. linearis, L. linifolia, L. maritima, L. microcarpa, L. palustris, L. peploides, L. peruviana, L. pilosa, L. polycarpa, L. ravenii, L. repens, L. simpsonii, L. spathulata, L. sphaerocarpa, L. suffruticosa, L. virgata
Synonyms Jussiaea grandiflora, J. repens var. grandiflora, J. repens var. hispida, J. stenophylla, J. stuckertii, J. uruguayensis, L. clavellina var. grandiflora, L. uruguayensis Oenothera octovalvis, Jussiaea calycina, J. clavata, J. frutescens, J. haenkeana, J. hirta, J. ligustrifolia, J. occidentalis, J. octofila, J. octonervia, J. octonervia var. sessiliflora, J. octovalvis, J. parviflora, J. peruviana var. octofila, J. pubescens, J. sagrana, J. salicifolia, J. scabra, J. suffruticosa, J. suffruticosa var. ligustrifolia, J. suffruticosa var. linearifolia, J. suffruticosa var. octofila, J. suffruticosa subsp. octonervia, J. suffruticosa var. octonervia, J. suffruticosa var. sessiliflora, J. suffruticosa var. sintenisii, J. venosa, J. villosa, L. octovalvis var. ligustrifolia, L. octovalvis var. octofila, L. octovalvis subsp. sessiliflora, L. octovalvis var. sessiliflora, L. pubescens, L. pubescens var. ligustrifolia, L. pubescens var. linearifolia, L. pubescens var. sessiliflora, L. sagrana
Name authority (Michaux) Greuter & Burdet: Willdenowia 16: 448. (1987) (Jacquin) P. H. Raven: Kew Bull. 15: 476. (1962)
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