Pteridophyta: Isoetales

Isoetaceae - Quillwort family

Crouch, N.R., Klopper, R.R., Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M. (2011) Ferns of Southern Africa, A comprehensive guide Struik Nature

Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria.

Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report 13

Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970) Pteridophyta Flora Zambesiaca

Description of the family

Small, submerged or emergent aquatic plants, evergreen or decidiuous, occurring in aquatic or seasonally wet habitats. Rhizome short, corm-like; rootlets dichotomously branched, arising from a basipetal growing point beneath the rhizome. Leaves in a rosette, flat or cylindrical, grass-like, leaf base spathulate with a membranous margin and a delicate triangular ligule on upper surface where leaf narrows. Sporangia sessile, ovoid or globose, initially embedded in the adaxial surface of the leaf base below the ligule, partially or entirely covered by a thin membranous outgrowth (velum), heterosporous.

Worldwide: 1 genus and ± 150 species, cosmopolitan apart from the Pacific Islands.

Botswana: 1 genus and 2 taxa.

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Links to genera:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this family

GenusContent
Isoetes L.Description

Other sources of information about Isoetaceae:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Isoetaceae
Flora of Malawi: Isoetaceae
Flora of Mozambique: Isoetaceae
Flora of Zambia: Isoetaceae
Flora of Zimbabwe: Isoetaceae

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Isoetaceae
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Isoetaceae
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Isoetaceae
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Isoetaceae
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Isoetaceae
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Isoetaceae
JSTOR Plant Science: Isoetaceae
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Isoetaceae
Wikipedia: Isoetaceae
Plants of the World Online: Isoetaceae
Tropicos: Isoetaceae



Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Botswana: Family page: Isoetaceae.
https://www.botswanaflora.com/speciesdata/family.php?family_id=111, retrieved 28 March 2024

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