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Scientific Name | Potamogeton richardii Solms |
Higher Classification | Monocotyledons |
Family | POTAMOGETONACEAE |
Synonyms | Potamogeton americanus Cham. var. richardii (Solms) Solms ex Schweinf., Potamogeton fibrosus Hagstr., Potamogeton thunbergii in the sense of Obermeyer in FSA 1:67 (1966), not of Cham. & Schltdl. (misapplied name) |
Common Names | Floating Pondweed (e) |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Least Concern |
Assessment Date | 2015/07/06 |
Assessor(s) | L. von Staden |
Justification | Widespread and not in danger of extinction. |
Distribution |
Endemism | Not endemic to South Africa |
Provincial distribution | Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Western Cape |
Range | Widespread across tropical, eastern and southern Africa to South Africa, where it is widespread across eastern South Africa, occurring as far south as Knysna. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Freshwater |
Major habitats | Forest, Fynbos, Grassland, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Savanna |
Description | Mud banks and submerged in deep water. |
Population |
Population trend | Stable |
Notes |
| P. richardii has often been confused with P. nodosus. It may be distinguished from this species by its submerged leaves promptly decaying, by its floating leaves with often discoloured petiole at the junction with the lamina and lamina mostly rounded at base, by its mature spikes more densely fructified and by its larger fruits (Symoens 2006). Obermeyer (1966) documents this species under the misapplied name P. thunbergii. |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Potamogeton richardii Solms | Least Concern | 2015.1 | |
Bibliography |
Kaplan, Z. and Symoens, J.J. 2005. Taxonomy, distribution and nomenclature of three confused broad-leaved Potamogeton species occurring in Africa and surrounding islands. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 148:329-357.
Obermeyer, A.A. 1966. Potamogetonaceae. In: L.E. Codd, B. De Winter and H.B. Rycroft (eds). Flora of Southern Africa 1:60-70. Botanical Research Institute, Pretoria.
Symoens, J.J. 2006. Potamogetonaceae. In: H.J. Beentje and S.A. Ghazanfar (eds). Flora of Tropical East Africa. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Symoens, J.J. 2009. Potamogetonaceae. In: J.R. Timberlake and E.S. Martins (eds). Flora Zambesiaca 12 (Part 2):76-93. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
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Citation |
| von Staden, L. 2015. Potamogeton richardii Solms. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/04/14 |
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