Alisma

Read about Alisma in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Alisma (derivation doubtful). Alismaceae. A genus of 2 species of hardy aquatics, with small white or pale rose fls. on scapes with whorled, panicled branches. Perennial by a stout proliferous corm. Useful in ponds. Prop. by division or seeds. According to N. Amer. Flora 17:43, 1905, the native water-plantain is not the same as the Old World species, to which, exclusively, should be applied the name here taken up for the species which has hitherto been considered cosmopolitan, and is now so treated. A. natans, Linn., is now referred to the monotypic genus Elisma (E. natans, Buch.). It is native to Eu., and is offered in foreign catalogues. FI. white, single, on a long peduncle: floating lvs. elliptic and obtuse. See Elisma. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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? Alisma
Alisma plantago-aquatica
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Alismatales Family: Alismataceae Genus: Alisma L.
Species
A. gramineum A. lanceolatum A. plantago-aquatica A. subcordatum A. triviale A. wahlenbergii

Alisma is a genus of plants in the Alismataceae or water-plantain family. The genus consists of aquatic plants with leaves either floating or submerged, found in a variety of still water habitats. The flowers are hermaphrodite, and are arranged in panicles, racemes, or umbels. Alisma flowers have six stamens, numerous free carpels in a single whorl, each with 1 ovule, and subventral styles. The fruit is an achene with a short beak.

The nineteenth century British art and social critic John Ruskin believed that the particular curve of the leaf-ribs of Alisma represented a model of 'divine proportion' and helped shape his theory of Gothic architecture.

Reference

• Bjorkqvist, I., in Op. Bot. (Lund)17:1 - 128 (1967); 19:1 - 138 (1968)

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