Ottelia
| Ottelia | |
|---|---|
| File:Ottelia alismoides W IMG 0915.jpg | |
| Ottelia alismoides | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Alismatales |
| Family: | Hydrocharitaceae |
| Subfamily: | Anacharioideae |
| Genus: | Ottelia Pers. 1805 not R.Hedw. 1806 |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Ottelia is a genus of an aquatic plant family Hydrocharitaceae described as a genus in 1805.[2][3] The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, South America, and Australia.[4][5]
Description
[edit | edit source]The genus is highly variable, with a variety of features.[6] It contains aquatic herbs with crowded leaves. Some of the leaves are held on short stems. Others float on long stems. The rooting stem is long.[7]
The flowers are held in a herbaceous bract that is many nerved and has two to six clear ribs. The tubular spathe is shortly divided into two.[7]
Each flower has two rows of a trimerous perianth held above the beak of the ovary. The rigid outer layer is oblong or linear. The larger inner layer is petal-like with a fleshy appendage at the base.[7] There are six or more stamens, often with flattened filaments.[7] The ovary is oblong and beaked with strongly developed placentas dividing it into six chambers that contain many ovules. There are six linear styles that are partially split in two.[7]
The tapering oblong fruits are included in the floral bract and have three to six wings. They contain numerous small, oblong seeds.[7]
It has been suggested that this genus should be divided into two subgenera and four sections:[8]
- Subgenus Ottelia has bisexual flowers.
- Section Ottelia: The spathes have a single flower and six to nine carpels in the ovary.
- Section Oligolobos: The spathes have many flowers and an ovary with three carpels.
- Subgenus Boottia has unisexual flowers. The male spathes have one to many flowers while the female spathes always have many flowers.
- Section Boottia: The males spathes have one flower and the ovaries of the female flowers have nine to fifteen carpels.
- Section Xystrolobos: The female spathes have two to many flowers and an ovary with three or nine carpels.
Distribution
[edit | edit source]This genus is found throughout the Paleotropics, from Africa to Asia to Australia and New Caledonia and to Brazil.[8] The areas with the highest diversity occur in central Africa (about 13 species) and south east Asia (about 8 species).[5][6] They are mostly found growing in lakes, slow flowing creeks and rivers.[9]
Phylogenomics and evolution
[edit | edit source]Originating in the mid Miocene, this genus now consists of two major clades that correspond to the two major centers of diversity - Africa and Asia. Morphological evidence suggests that this genus originated in Africa. It then spread to South America and Australasia via the ocean, and then from Australasia to Asia.[6]
Global cooling, the development of the East Asian monsoon climate and tectonic movement likely aided diversification in China. The movement of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau Pin the liocenehas been suggested to explain the high endemism of Chinese species of Ottelia.[6]
Species
[edit | edit source]This genus is the second largest in its family (Hydrocharitaceae).[6] The following species are accepted:[1]
- Ottelia acuminata (Gagnep.) Dandy - S China
- Ottelia alismoides (L.) Pers. - Khabarovsk, Primorye, China, Indian Subcontinent, SE Asia, New Guinea, Solomon Is, N Australia
- Ottelia balansae (Gagnep.) Dandy - S China, Vietnam
- Ottelia brachyphylla (Gürke) Dandy - Sudan
- Ottelia brasiliensis (Planch.) Walp. - Brazil, Paraguay, NE Argentina
- Ottelia cordata (Wall.) Dandy - Hainan, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia
- Ottelia cylindrica (T.C.E.Fr.) Dandy - Zaïre, Zambia, Angola
- Ottelia emersa Z.C.Zhao & R.L.Luo - Guangxi
- Ottelia exserta (Ridl.) Dandy - from Somalia to Cape Province
- Ottelia fengshanensis Z.Z.Li, S.Wu & Q.F.Wang - from southeast China
- Ottelia fischeri (Gürke) Dandy - from Kenya to Mozambique
- Ottelia guanyangensis Z.Z.Li, Q.F.Wang & S.Wu - from Southeast China
- Ottelia kunenensis (Gürke) Dandy - Zambia, Angola, Botswana, Namibia
- Ottelia lisowskii Symoens - Zaïre, Zambia
- Ottelia mesenterium (Hallier f.) Hartog - Sulawesi
- Ottelia muricata (C.H.Wright) Dandy - C + S Africa
- Ottelia obtusifolia T.C.E.Fr. - from Zambia and Zaïre
- Ottelia ovalifolia (R.Br.) Rich. - Australia
- Ottelia profundecordata Symoens - from the Central African Republic and Zaïre
- Ottelia scabra Baker - South Sudan, Uganda
- Ottelia ulvifolia (Planch.) Walp. - trop + S Africa, Madagascar
- Ottelia verdickii Gürke - Tanzania, Zaïre, Zambia, Angola
Conservation
[edit | edit source]The species belonging to this genus are being increasingly negatively impacted by the use and pollution of their water bodies. They have also been declining as a result of climate change. This will continue to occur as climate change accelerates habitat fragmentation and habitat loss due to changing conditions, including increasing water temperatures.[9]
Gallery
[edit | edit source]-
Flower of Ottelia alismoides
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Persoon, Christiaan Hendrik. 1805. Synopsis plantarum, seu Enchiridium botanicum, complectens enumerationem systematicam specierum hucusque cognitarum 1: 400 in Latin
- ^ Cook, C.D.K., Symoens, J.-J. Urmi- Konig, K. (1984) A revision of the genus Ottelia (Hydrocharitaceae). 1. Generic considerations Aquatic Botany 18: 263-274
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Cook, C.D.K. and Urmi- Konig, K. (1984) A revision of the genus Ottelia (Hydrocharitaceae). 2. The species of Eurasia, Australasia and America Aquatic Botany 20: 131–177
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