Azolla mexicana

Azolla mexicana, the Mexican mosquito fern,[3] is an aquatic fern native to Mexico, British Columbia and the western United States (California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Nevada).[4]

Azolla mexicana
Drawing circa 1905[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Salviniales
Family: Salviniaceae
Genus: Azolla
Species:
A. mexicana
Binomial name
Azolla mexicana
Schltdl. & Cham. ex Kunze May 1845
Synonyms[2]
  • Azolla mexicana Schltdl. & Cham. 1830, name without description
  • Azolla mexicana C. Presl, December 1845

There are reports of the species also occurring in the Great Plains of the central United States, but these reports need further study for verification.[4]

Description

Azolla mexicana is a floating aquatic with blue-green to dark red leaves. It is distinguished from the two other species of the genus present in North America, Azolla caroliniana and Azolla filiculoides, by having multicellular hairs on the leaves and pits on the megaspores.[5][6][7]

References
  1. Hippolyte Coste - Flore descriptive et illustrée de la France, de la Corse et des contrées limitrophes, 1901-1906 - - This image is in public domain because its copyright has expired
  2. Tropicos
  3. "Azolla mexicana". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  4. Flora of North America Azolla mexicana
  5. Svenson, H. K. 1944. The New World species of Azolla. American Fern Journal 34: 69--84.
  6. Zimmerman, W. J., T. A. Lumpkin, and I. Watanabe. 1989. Classification of Azolla spp., section Azolla. Euphytica 43: 223--232.
  7. Kunze, Gustav. Linnaea 18(3): 352. 1845.
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