Limnophyton obtusifolium (L.) Miq.

Annual, erect, 60-90 cm tall herb. Leaves broadly ovate, sagittate, with spreading, acute triangular lobes, 15-30 cm long, pellucid-punctate, obtuse or emarginate at the apex; petiole 30-80 cm long, triangular, spongy. Peduncle as long as the petioles, triangular. Flowers 5-10 in each whorl, c. 1 cm across; pedicels 2.5-5 cm long, reflexed and thickened in fruit; bracts triangular-lanceolate, 1.5-2.5 cm long, c. 1 cm broad, bracteoles minute. Sepals ovate-elliptic, 4-6 mm long, 2-3.5 mm broad, obtuse, green. Petals delicate, obovate-elliptic, larger than the sepals. Stamens with c. 3 mm long, basally flattened and thickened filaments; anthers oblong. Achenes obovate, minutely stipitate, 4-6 (-8) mm long, 3-4 mm broad, reticulately ribbed, shortly beaked.

Distribution: Far east Asia to Madagascar and topical Africa through Indo-Pakistan subcontinent and Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

Fl. Per.: July-September.

obtusifolium: with obtuse leaves

Annual or perennial (semi-)aquatic herb, up to 1.5 m tall. Rhizome small; roots fibrous and spongy. Leaves emergent, erect; petiole up to 50 cm long, 3-angular in cross-section. Lamina sagittate, mostly hairless, with scattered pellucid dots, wider than the length ot the midrib and basal lobes as long or longer than the mid rib; veins 13-17, 3-4 pairs arising from the base, arching to the leaf apex, the others curving down towards the tips of the lobes. Inflorescence on a stout peduncle 0.3-1 m long, branched with 4-7 whorls of flowers. Flowers bisexual or some male in the basal whorls, with greenish petals and white petals. Fruit with up to 30 carpels, forming a globose head, 10-12 mm in diameter.

Widespread in tropical and subtropical Africa, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, Indochina and Malaysia