Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Aquatic or semiaquatic, succulent perennial or rarely annual herbs.

Stems: Stems decumbent or floating, glabrous.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades fleshy. Margins entire. Usually sessile. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers 1–2 in the leaf axils. Flowers bisexual (perfect). Calyx deeply 5-lobed, the lobes nearly distinct, unequal in width, the uppermost lobes broader. Corolla nearly actinomorphic, campanulate, 5-lobed, the lobes subequal, upper lip overlapping lower lip in bud, shallowly 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed. Stamens 4, in 2 pairs, all fertile. Ovary superior, 2-carpellate, with as many cells; ovule placentation axile. Styles 2-lobed.

Fruit: Capsules septicidal and loculicidal; membranous. Seeds numerous; reticulate; the areoles usually arranged in longitudinal rows.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range: