(Last Modified On 1/11/2013)
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(Last Modified On 1/11/2013)
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Genus
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HYDROCOTYLE L
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PlaceOfPublication
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Sp. P1. 234. 1753.
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Description
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Perennial, glabrous or pubescent creeping herbs; stems rooting at the nodes, the leaves petiolate, peltate or not, simple, entire to parted, the petiole not sheath- ing, stipulate; inflorescence of simple, or proliferous, umbels borne on axillary peduncles, or subsessile, an involucre present or lacking; rays spreading to re- flexed; flowers white, greenish, or yellow, the petals plane, the calyx minute or obsolete; stylopodium conical to depressed, the styles short to elongate, a carpo- phore lacking; fruit strongly flattened laterally, the dorsal ribs acute or obsolete, the lateral usually conspicuous, the carpels orbicular to triangular in transection, oil-bearing cells conspicuous to obsolete, and strengthening cells usually surround- ing the seed cavity, or these obsolete; seed ovate to ovate-oblong in transection, its face plane to concave.
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Habit
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herbs
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Key
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Leaves orbicular-reniform, non-peltate. Plants pubescent; umbels 25-70-flowered; fruit-ribs evident ................... 1. H. MEXICANA Plants glabrous; umbels 5-10-flowered; fruit-ribs obsolete ....................... 2. H. RANUNCULOIDES Leaves orbicular, peltate. Fruit sessile; plants pubescent; umbels 2-6-flowered .................................... 3. H. PUSILLA Fruit pedicellate; plants glabrous; umbels many-flowered. Umbels simple; fruit-ribs obtuse .......................................................... 4. H. UMBELLATA Umbels proliferous and hence irregularly compound; fruit-ribs acute. 5. H. BONARIENSIS
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Note
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Hydrocotyle is a large, distinctive genus of perhaps 100 species, usually easily recognizable by its creeping stems, rounded leaves, simple umbels, laterally flattened fruits, and its preference for moist or wet habitats. It is primarily a genus of the southern hemisphere, but extends well into and across the tropics in both the New and Old Worlds. Its ability to thrive under tropical conditions, uncharacter- istic of the Umbelliferae in general, permits it to be the largest of the family in Panama, with 5 species thus far reported and others to be expected.
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