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water-plantains
Alisma
Alisma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Alismataceae, members of which are commonly known as water-plantains. The genus consists of aquatic plants with leaves either floating or submerged, found in a variety of still water habitats around the world (nearly worldwide). The flowers are hermaphrodite, and are arranged in panicles, racemes, or umbels. Alisma flowers have six stamens, numerous free carpels in a single whorl, each with 1 ovule, and subventral styles. The fruit is an achene with a short beak.
The nineteenth century British art and social critic John Ruskin believed that the particular curve of the leaf-ribs of Alisma represented a model of 'divine proportion' and helped shape his theory of Gothic architecture.
12 branches of this genus, most-observed first
European Water-plantain
speciesAlisma plantago-aquatica
northern water-plantain
speciesAlisma triviale
american water-plantain
speciesAlisma subcordatum
lance-leaved water-plantain
speciesAlisma lanceolatum
grass-leaved water-plantain
speciesAlisma gramineum
Channelled Water-plantain
speciesAlisma canaliculatum
Alisma × juzepczukii
hybridAlisma × juzepczukii
Wahlenberg's Water-plantain
speciesAlisma wahlenbergii
Alisma × bjoerkqvistii
hybridAlisma × bjoerkqvistii
Alisma praecox
speciesAlisma praecox
Alisma nanum
speciesAlisma nanum
Alisma × rhicnocarpum
hybridAlisma × rhicnocarpum
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Hortus Eystettensis
Basilius Besler · 1640 · p.331
On the Names of Plants
Hieronymus Bock (Tragus) · 1552 · p.235
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1560 · p.635
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1563 · p.580
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.1106
Discourses on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Dioscorides; Pietro Andrea Mattioli (comm.) · 1568 · p.1166
Plant Touchstone (Phytobasanos)
Fabio Colonna · 1592 · p.37
Plant Touchstone (Phytobasanos)
Fabio Colonna · 1592 · p.41
Compendium of Materia Medica
李時珍 · 1596 · p.79
Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms: Plants
王圻, 王思義 · 1607 · p.42
Illustrated Herbal Primer
Chen Jiamo (陳嘉謨) · 1628 · p.115
Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica (Vol. 18)
吳其濬 · 1848 · p.4
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Alisma in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 60254.