Lepilaena

Lepilaena is a genus of aquatic and marine flowering plant comprising 6 or more species endemic[2][3] to coastal and brackish or alkaline inland waters of temperate Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.[4][2]

Lepilaena
Lepilaena australis Harv., 1855
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Potamogetonaceae
Genus: Lepilaena
J.Drumm. ex W.H.Harvey[1]

The species are appended with common names that derive from their description as water-mats; for example, L. australis is referred to as Austral water-mat and L. marina as Sea water-mat.

Interpretation of molecular evidence for this poorly studied genus suggests a close affinity with Zannichellia, another genus of aquatic plants.[4] Two species are noted for their occurrence in marine environs, L. cylindrocarpa and L. marina, in estuaries and tidal flats.[4] L. cylindrocarpa is also found in a variety of brackish inland waters of mainland Australia.[5] Other species may be found in habitats of fresh to brackish, still or slowly moving, coastal or inland waters.

Based on the molecular and morphological evidence, all the species have been transferred to the Afro-Eurasian genus Althenia.[6]

Species

The species currently recognised include:

References
  1. Hooker's J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 7: 57. 1855 IPNI
  2. Hammer, Ulrich Theodore (1986). Saline Lake Ecosystems of the World. Springer London, Limited. ISBN 978-90-6193-535-3.
  3. Klaus Kubitzki, ed. (1998). Flowering Plants. Monocotyledons: Alismatanae and Commelinanae (except Gramineae) (The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants). Springer. p. 472. ISBN 978-3-540-64061-5.
  4. Larkum, Anthony W.D.; Duarte, Carlos; Orth, Robert J., eds. (2005). "Taxonomy and biogeorgraphy of seagrasses". Seagrasses: Biology, Ecology and Conservation. Springer-Verlag New York, LLC. ISBN 978-1-4020-2942-4.
  5. "Lepilaena cylindrocarpa (Muell.Stuttg.)". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  6. Ito, Y., Nr. Tanaka, P. García-Murillo, A.M. Muasya (2016) A new delimitation of the Afro-Eurasian plant genus Althenia to include its Australasian relative, Lepilaena (Potamogetonaceae) – evidence from DNA and morphological data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 98: 261-270.


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