Aponogeton (Aponogeton)

Description

The Aponogetonaceae (Cape-pondweed family or Aponogeton family) are a family of flowering plants in the order Alismatales. The Aponogetonaceae is considered to be allied to the Potamogetonaceae - Najadaceae complex of families.In recent decades the family has had universal recognition by taxonomists. The APG system (1998) and APG II system (2003) treat it in the order Alismatales in the clade monocots. The family consists of only one genus, Aponogeton, with 56 known species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ) of aquatic plants, most of which have been included in a molecular phylogeny by Chen et al. (2015). The name was published in Supplementum Plantarum 32: 214 (1782) and is derived from a geographic location. Some species are used as ornamental plants in aquariums.They are aquatic plants, which are found in tropical to warm temperate regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.Aponogeton distachyos is originally from South Africa but has become naturalised in South Australia, Western South America, and Western Europe.Individual plants are not always easy to identify due to hybridization (particularly those sold as A. crispus - which are often cultivated hybrids with A. natans or A. rigidifolius).Generally an Aponogeton from Asia will have a single bloom stalk, while those from African heritage (including Madagascar) will have multiple blooming stems on the same flower stalk.Even though 17 species are found in Africa, only one of them, A. distachyos, has been continuously maintained as a plant in garden ponds. Several of the 11 Madagascan species have been introduced as new aquarium plants in the early 21st century. At present, the following plants from Madagascar are in culture: Aponogeton boivinianus, A. longiplumulosus, A. madagascariensis and A. ulvaceus. Additionally, Aponogeton bernierianus, A. capuronii, A. decaryi and A. tenuispicatus have been imported on several occasions but have not achieved any wider distribution because they are difficult to maintain. From the 16 representatives of this genus from Asia and Australia, A. crispus, A. elongatus, A. rigidifolius, A. robinsonii and A. undulatus are useful aquarium plants. Aponogeton jacobensii, A. natans and A. loriae, too, were cultivated several times but have not proven themselves under aquarium conditions.