- Pilularia
Taxobox
name = "Pilularia"
image_width = 240px
image_caption = Pillwort, "Pilularia globulifera "
regnum =Plant ae
divisio =Pteridophyta
classis =Pteridopsida
ordo =Salviniales
familia =Marsileaceae
genus = "Pilularia" L.
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Pilularia americana " A. Braun "Pilularia globulifera " "Pilularia minuta " and maybe some othersPilularia is a genus of unusual
fern s of familyMarsileaceae distributed in North Temperate regions,Ethiopia n mountains, and the the southern hemisphere inAustralia ,New Zealand , and westernSouth America .Depending on the taxonomic revisor, the genus contains between 3 and 6 species of small plants with thread-like leaves, and creeping rhizomes. The
sporangia are borne in sphericalsporocarp s ("pills") which form in theaxil s of leaves. "Pilularia minuta " from SW Europe is one of the smallest of all ferns."P. globulifera"
"
Pilularia globulifera ", or pillwort, is native to western Europe, where it grows at edges of lakes, ponds, ditches and marshes, on wet clay or clay-sand soil, sometimes in water up to 30cm deep. It has a pea-shaped 4-chamberedsporocarp , each chamber withsorus bearing bothmacrosporangia andmicrosporangia .Some of the plants growing in association with this species in the UK include water celery ("
Apium inundatum "), marsh pennywort ("Hydrocotyle vulgaris ") and lesser spearwort ("Ranunculus flammula ").This is an internationally threatened species included in the European
Red Data Book .It is listed on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, but it has not been seen since 1970 and may now be extinct in the province. It is protected under theWildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in the rest of the UK, where it is now classified as Vulnerable.Pillwort can be grown in a "bog garden" or as a marginal aquatic in a garden pond.
References
* [http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=518 UK Biodiversity Action Plan]
* Preston, C.D. & Croft, J.M. (1997). "Aquatic Plants in Britain and Ireland". Harley Books, pp.31-32.
External links
* [http://www.whildassociates.co.uk/BSBI/TPDB/Pilularia/pilularia.html Pilularia globulifera UK distribution]
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