Ludwigia
Temporal range:
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Subfamily: Ludwigioideae
Genus: Ludwigia
L.
Species
See text

Ludwigia (primrose-willow, water-purslane, or water-primrose) is a genus of about 82 species of aquatic plants with a cosmopolitan but mainly tropical distribution.

Currently (2023), there is much debate among botanists and plant taxonomists as to the classification of many Ludwigia species. Botanists from the US Department of Agriculture are currently doing genetic analyses on plants from the Western US and South America to better classify members of this genus.

The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus after Christian Gottlieb Ludwig (1709-1773).[1]

Fossil record

The oldest known remains of the genus are known from Eckfelder maar in Germany, dating to the Eocene. Ludwigia pollen was also found associated with beetles belonging to the families Buprestidae and Scarabaeidae, suggesting that these flowers were likely pollinated by beetles rather than hymenopterans as is typical in modern species.[2] A large number of fossil seeds of †Ludwigia collinsoniae and †L. corneri have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark.[3]

Selected species

Listed from the NCBI database:[4]

References

  1. ↑ Vol. II. - Caclyciflorae. Vol. 2. Rivington. 1832. p. 696.
  2. ↑ Geier, Christian; Bouchal, Johannes M.; Ulrich, Silvia; Wappler, Torsten; Grímsson, Friðgeir (2023-05-15). "Fossil Onagraceae flower and insects with in situ or adhered pollen from the Eocene of Eckfeld, Germany". doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6116. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ↑ Angiosperm Fruits and Seeds from the Middle Miocene of Jutland (Denmark) by Else Marie Friis, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters 24:3, 1985
  4. ↑ NCBI taxonomy- Reviewed 2017-11-25
  • Wagner, W. L., Hoch, P. C., & Raven, P. H. (2007). Revised classification of the Onagraceae. Systematic Botany Monographs, 83.
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