Hydrocleys

Primary tabs

Hydrocleys

Description

Plants submersed, with floating leaves. Stems short, erect; stolons often present, terete. Leaves basal, floating or submersed, submersed sessile phyllodia, floating long-petiolate; petioles terete, septate, with a sheathing base; blades orbicular to oblong-lanceolate, margin entire, apex mucronate to obtuse, base rounded to cordate. Inflorescences of few to numerous flowers, terminating a long septate scape, proliferating with leaves and stolons, scapes few to many; peduncles terete, septate; bracts elliptic to lanceolate, delicate, separate, shorter than pedicel subtended. Flowers long-pedicellate, pedicels cylindric, terete; sepals green, coriaceous, erect, elliptic, apex cucullate, sometimes with a midvein; petals yellow to white, delicate, oblong-obovate to orbicular, falling off soon, erect to spreading, longer than or shorter than sepals; stamens 6-many, in 1-several series, outer often sterile, filaments linear or narrowly elliptic, flattened, anthers linear; carpels 5-8, terete, linear-elliptic, basally scarcely cohering, attenuate into style, styles curved inward, papillose at apex. Fruits more or less terete, linear-elliptic, membranous, without dorsal furrows, dehiscing along inner margins; seeds numerous, sparsely glandular pubescent.

Distribution

Guianas present, Neotropics present
A genus with its native range restricted to the Neotropics, consisting of 5 species; 1 species in the Guianas.