Sehlabathebe water lily | |
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Scientific classification
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Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Alismatales |
Family: | Aponogetonaceae |
Genus: | Aponogeton |
Species: | A. ranunculiflorus
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Binomial name | |
Aponogeton ranunculiflorus |
Aponogeton ranunculiflorus, the Sehlabathebe water lily, is a tiny and endangered species [3] of aquatic plant, that belongs to the pondweed family Aponogetonaceae. It is protected in the Sehlabathebe National Park in the mountains of Lesotho, where it is very localised, [3] and nearby in the uKhahlamba / Drakensberg Park of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. [1] Outside these areas it is seriously threatened. It is found in sandstone rock pools, up to 7 metres deep, and in permanently wet tarns or sensitive high altitude mires, [1] at altitudes between about 2,600 and 3,200 metres. Its spiralled stems allow the flowers to remain at surface level. [3] Threats to the species include overgrazing and trampling by cattle, overburning, erosion and subsistence farming. [1] Their small (1 cm) corms can survive the drying out of the pools, or being frozen into the muddy bottoms. [4]
Sehlabathebe water lily | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Alismatales |
Family: | Aponogetonaceae |
Genus: | Aponogeton |
Species: | A. ranunculiflorus
|
Binomial name | |
Aponogeton ranunculiflorus |
Aponogeton ranunculiflorus, the Sehlabathebe water lily, is a tiny and endangered species [3] of aquatic plant, that belongs to the pondweed family Aponogetonaceae. It is protected in the Sehlabathebe National Park in the mountains of Lesotho, where it is very localised, [3] and nearby in the uKhahlamba / Drakensberg Park of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. [1] Outside these areas it is seriously threatened. It is found in sandstone rock pools, up to 7 metres deep, and in permanently wet tarns or sensitive high altitude mires, [1] at altitudes between about 2,600 and 3,200 metres. Its spiralled stems allow the flowers to remain at surface level. [3] Threats to the species include overgrazing and trampling by cattle, overburning, erosion and subsistence farming. [1] Their small (1 cm) corms can survive the drying out of the pools, or being frozen into the muddy bottoms. [4]