Lagarosiphon

{{Short description|Genus of plants}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Lagarasiphon major, Howardian, August 1992 (34388714862).jpg | image_caption = ''Lagarosiphon major'' | taxon = Lagarosiphon | authority = Harv. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text }}

'''''Lagarosiphon''''' is a genus of aquatic plants described as a genus in 1841.<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2912016#page/234/mode/1up Harvey, William Henry. 1841. Journal of Botany, being a second series of the Botanical Miscellany 4: 230–231] descriptions in Latin, commentary in English, line drawing as illustration</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40001119|title=Tropicos {{!}} Name – Lagarosiphon Harv.|website=www.tropicos.org|access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref> It is native to Africa and Madagascar.<ref name="a">{{Cite web|url=https://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=308170|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|website=apps.kew.org|language=en-GB|access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref> It is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate plants.<ref>{{cite book|isbn= 9781136461255|title= A Handbook of Global Freshwater Invasive Species|last1= Francis|first1= Robert A.|date= 12 March 2012|publisher= Routledge}}</ref>

== Description == These branched, aquatic herbs are covered in leaves. They may have an alternate, sub-opposite or whorled arrangement.<ref name="SAGenera">{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Edwin Percy |title=The genera of South African flowering plants |publisher=Government Printer |year=1951 |publication-place=South Africa}}</ref>

The unisexual flowers are surrounded by auxiliary bracts. The male flowers have a six lobed perianth arranged in two rows. The outer lobes are slightly larger. They have three stamens and two to three staminodes. There are multiple flowers per bract.<ref name="SAGenera" />

The female perianths are also made up of six lobes, with those making up the outer layer also being larger than those of the inner layer. The one chambered ovary has three partial placentas. The style is as long as the perianth tube. There are three stigmas, which may be forked. There is one flower per bract.<ref name="SAGenera" />

== Distribution == This genus is most common in tropical Africa.<ref name="SAGenera" />

== Species == <nowiki>The following species are accepted:</nowiki><ref name="a" /> # ''Lagarosiphon cordofanus'' (Hochst.) Casp. – Cameroon + Ethiopia to Namibia + Mpumalanga # ''Lagarosiphon hydrilloides'' Rendle – Ghana, Kenya, Uganda # ''Lagarosiphon ilicifolius'' Oberm. – Uganda to Namibia # ''Lagarosiphon madagascariensis'' Casp. – Madagascar # ''Lagarosiphon major'' (Ridl.) Moss – Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa # ''Lagarosiphon muscoides'' Harv. – Mali to Sudan to KwaZulu-Natal # ''Lagarosiphon rubellus'' Ridl. – Angola # ''Lagarosiphon steudneri'' Casp. – Ethiopia # ''Lagarosiphon verticillifolius'' Oberm. – Mozambique, Zimbabwe, KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini, Mpumalanga, Limpopo

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.eol.org/pages/59881 ''Lagarosiphon''] at the Encyclopedia of Life

Category:Hydrocharitaceae Category:Hydrocharitaceae genera Category:Aquatic plants Category:Dioecious plants Category:Taxa named by William Henry Harvey