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Buckbean family
Menyanthaceae
ミツガシワ科
An aquatic and wetland family including Menyanthes, Nymphoides, and related genera. About 5 genera and 60 species are known. Belongs to Asterales but is highly adapted to aquatic environments, morphologically very different from Asteraceae or Apiaceae.
Key Characteristics
- ●Aquatic or wetland perennial herbs
- ●Corolla 5-lobed with fimbriate (fringe-like) appendages along the margins (Menyanthes)
- ●Leaves trifoliate (Menyanthes) or simple
- ●Belongs to Asterales but specialized for aquatic life
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple / Compound
Venation
Pinnate / Palmate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Compound type
Ternate
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Stipules
Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
Many
Petal fusion
Fused
Ovary position
Superior / Half-inferior
Stamen count
5
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Asterales > Menyanthaceae
Divergence Era
Paleogene to Neogene
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Secondary adaptation to aquatic environments
- ・Morphological specialization for floating-leaf and wetland lifestyles
Plants in Buckbean family on this site
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