Cabomba

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Classis: Unassigned
Ordo: Nymphaeales

Familia: Cabombaceae
Genus: Cabomba
Species: C. aquatica – C. caroliniana – C. furcata – C. haynesii – C. palaeformis – C. schwartzii
Name

Cabomba Aubl., Hist. Pl. Guiane 1: 321 (1775)

Type species: Cabomba aquatica Aubl., Hist. Pl. Guiane 1: 321 (1775)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Nectris Schreber, Gen. 237. (1789)
Villarsia Neck., Elem. Bot. 2: 110 (1790), opus utique oppr.

References

Aublet, J.B.C.F. 1775. Hist. Pl. Guiane 321.
Farr, E. R. & Zijlstra, G. eds. (1996-) Index Nominum Genericorum (Plantarum). 2009 Oct 01 [1].
Ørgaard, M. 1991. The genus Cabomba - a taxonomic study. Nordic J. Bot. 11: 194.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2019. Cabomba in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2019 Jul. 14. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2019. Cabomba. Published online. Accessed: Jul 14 2019.
The Plant List 2013. Cabomba in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published online. Accessed: 2019 Jul 14.
Tropicos.org 2019. Cabomba. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 14 Jul 2019.

Vernacular names
suomi: Viuhkalehdet
日本語: ハゴロモモ属
svenska: Kabombasläktet

Cabomba is an aquatic plant genus, one of two belonging to the family Cabombaceae. It has divided submerged leaves in the shape of a fan (hence the vernacular name fanwort) and is much favoured by aquarists as an ornamental and oxygenating plant for fish tanks. Use in the aquarium trade has led to some species being introduced to other parts of the world, such as Australia, where they have become weeds.

Species

Cabomba aquatica Aubl. (fanwort)
Cabomba caroliniana A. Gray (green cabomba)
Cabomba furcata Schult. & Schult.f. (red cabomba)
Cabomba haynesii Wiersema [es]
Cabomba palaeformis Fassett

Cabomba as an aquarium plant

Cabomba is frequently planted in aquaria, as an attractive-leaved water plant that is fast-growing (up to one inch per day). Green cabomba (C. caroliniana) is the most common, and the easiest aquarium subject. By contrast, red cabomba (C. furcata) is considered to be one of the hardest plants to care for in the aquarium.
Flowers and reproduction
leaves and flowers of a Cabomba species in water
Cabomba aquatica Aubl.

The perianth of Cabomba is either trimerous (having members in each whorl in groups of three) or bimerous (in groups of two) with white, oval-shaped petals, and is usually about 2.0 cm across when fully developed. The petals are unlike the sepals in that the former have two yellow ear-shaped nectaries at the base. Petals may also have purplish edges. Flowers are protogynous, having primarily female sexual structures on the first day of appearance and then switching to male on the second and subsequent days. Flowers emerge and are designed to be pollinated above the waterline. Principal pollinators are flies and other small flying insects.[1]
References

Klaus Kubitzki; Jens G. Rohwer; Volker Bittrich (28 July 1993). Flowering Plants · Dicotyledons: Magnoliid, Hamamelid and Caryophyllid Families. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 159. ISBN 978-3-540-55509-4.

Ørgaard, M. (1991). The genus Cabomba (Cabombaceae) - a taxonomic study. Nordic Journal of Botany 11: 179-203
Day, C., Petroechevsky, A., Pellow, B., Bevan, J., O’Dwyer, T., StLawrence, A. and Smith, G. (2014). Managing a priority outlier infestation of Cabomba caroliniana in a natural wetland in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia – could this be eradication? Draft Paper to 19th Australasian Weeds Conference, Hobart, Australia.
Fassett, N.C. 1953. A monograph of Cabomba. Castanea