| Pteridophyte | Literature for Azolla filiculoides
Palmer, 2003. |
| Salviniaceae | Bibliography |
| Azolla filiculoides | |
Common name(s): mosquito ferns, mosquito ferns |
| General Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Native to the United States, western Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America and purposely brought to Hawai'i as part of a mosquito control program in rice fields early in the twentieth century.In the Hawaiian Islands, naturalized on Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Hawai`i. |
|
| Habitat | Taro patches, irrigation ditches, and ponds | |
| Habit |
Stems branching pinnately, alternately, bearing threadlike roots. |
|
| Leaves |
Fronds overlapping, 1.5-5 cm long; pinnae overlapping, 2-lobed, 0.5-1.5 mm long, the upper lobes oblong-ovate, yellowish green, pink, or dark red, upper side convex, underside deeply concave, lower (submerged) lobes larger, pale green to whitish, delicately membranous, glabrous. |
|
| Notes |
Latin felix, fern, plus -ulus, diminutive suffix, plus -oides, like, resembling; the plant is a little fern. |
|
| Contributor |
Sally Eichhorn |