51 articles
Pandanus
Pandanus (screw pines), genus of 450-600 Old World tropical and Pacific trees and shrubs in Pandanaceae, dioecious with prop roots, spiny spiral leaves, pineapple-like drupe heads; beetle-pollinated; leaves woven, fruits eaten.
Potamogeton natans
Potamogeton natans, broad-leaved or floating-leaf pondweed, is a perennial floating-leaved aquatic plant of Potamogetonaceae, native to the temperate and subtropical Northern Hemisphere, least concern (IUCN LC, G5), found in quiet waters up to about 1.5 m deep.
Potamogetonaceae
Potamogetonaceae, the pondweed family (formerly including Zannichelliaceae), is an Alismatales family of aquatic herbs in fresh and brackish waters worldwide, with 4-7 genera and about 90-95 species, type genus Potamogeton.
Restionaceae
Restionaceae (restios), family of wind-pollinated, mostly dioecious perennial herbs of the Southern Hemisphere; 51 genera, 572 species per Kew; dominant in Cape fynbos and Australian kwongan; flowers year-round with spring peak.
Ruppia
Ruppia (widgeon grass, ditch-grass) is the sole genus of Ruppiaceae, submerged brackish-water monocots with hydrophilous pollination, cosmopolitan distribution, salinity tolerance from freshwater to hypersaline, and disputed species limits (4-12 species).
Ruppia maritima
Ruppia maritima, commonly called beaked tasselweed or wigeongrass, is a cosmopolitan submerged aquatic flowering plant of brackish and saline lagoons, ponds, salt marshes, and coastal pools.
Seagrass
Seagrass: about 72 species of submerged marine flowering plants in four families, forming coastal meadows covering ~0.1% of the seafloor; key blue carbon sinks (138 ± 38 gC m⁻² yr⁻¹) and fish nurseries, declining 20–35% since 1970.
Stratiotes aloides
Stratiotes aloides, water soldier or water aloe, is the sole living species of the monotypic genus Stratiotes (Hydrocharitaceae), a dioecious Eurasian aquatic perennial with spiny rosette leaves that floats in summer and sinks in winter, invasive in Ontario.
Strelitzia
Strelitzia, bird-of-paradise or crane flower genus, five southern African species in Strelitziaceae; named for Queen Charlotte, bird-pollinated via feet, S. reginae most cultivated.
Strelitzia reginae
Strelitzia reginae, known as the bird-of-paradise flower or crane flower, is a South African perennial herb grown worldwide for its orange and blue flowers that resemble a bird's head.
Tradescantia
Tradescantia (spiderworts), a New World genus of about 90 herbaceous species in Commelinaceae, order Commelinales; includes wandering Jew (T. zebrina), inch plant, and oyster plant (T. spathacea), with Rhoeo, Zebrina, and Setcreasea as synonyms.
Tradescantia pallida
Tradescantia pallida (purple heart, purple queen) is a Mexican trailing Commelinaceae perennial with deep purple leaves and pink morning-opening flowers, mildly irritant sap, easy stem-cutting propagation, and invasive status in parts of South Africa and Italy.
Tradescantia zebrina
Tradescantia zebrina, the zebra plant or inch plant (formerly Zebrina pendula), is a trailing Commelinaceae houseplant native from Mexico to Colombia, with silver-striped purple leaves, easy propagation, and invasive status in Florida, Brazil, and South Africa.
Turmeric
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a perennial herb of the ginger family whose rhizomes are ground into a bright yellow spice used in South Asian cuisine and medicine.
Typhaceae
Typhaceae (cattail family), Juss. 1789, a Poales family of two aquatic genera, Typha (cattails) and Sparganium (bur-reeds), wind-pollinated wetland herbs with dense cylindrical spikes, Cretaceous fossils, and invasive Typha in North America.
Xyridaceae
Xyridaceae, the yellow-eyed-grass family, is a family of flowering plants in the monocot order Poales, with five genera and about 400 species, mostly in South America.
Yam (vegetable)
Yam (Dioscorea spp., Dioscoreaceae) is a tropical monocot vine grown for starchy tubers, domesticated independently in Asia, Africa, and the Americas; West Africa's yam belt produces 97% of African output, led by Nigeria, and US "yam" labels usually mean sweet potato.
Zingiber
Zingiber, also called the ginger genus (Zingiber Mill., 1754), is a genus of about 216 accepted species of aromatic rhizomatous herbs in Zingiberaceae, native to tropical and subtropical Asia; it includes ginger (Zingiber officinale), shampoo ginger (Z. zerumbet), and mioga.
Zingiberaceae
Zingiberaceae, the ginger family (Zingiber), is a pantropical family of aromatic rhizomatous herbs in Zingiberales with one fertile stamen; source of ginger, turmeric, and cardamom, concentrated in South and South-East Asia.
Zingiberales
Zingiberales, also known as Scitaminaceae or Zingiberiflorae, is an order of pantropical monocot flowering plants in eight families, including gingers, bananas, and cannas, totaling about 2500 species and yielding crops like ginger and banana.
Zostera
Zostera (eelgrass) is a genus of about 13 accepted species of submerged marine flowering plants in Zosteraceae, forming temperate seagrass meadows worldwide; Z. marina is the most widespread and most restored species.