Plant Index

 
 
 
 

Azolla caroliniana

Azolla caroliniana Willd.

carolina mosquitofern, eastern mosquito fern, water fern

Azolla caroliniana (Carolina Mosquitofern)
Image ID: 12856
Image by: Cressler, Alan M.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: AZCA
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Azolla caroliniana
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2020-01-01

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: AZOLL
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Azolla
GENUS AUTHORITY: Lam.
GENUS COMMON: Mosquitofern
GENUS SUMMARY: A small genus of about 6 species, floating aquatics, in tropical and warm temperate regions. Very un-fernlike, this floating aquatic looks superficially more like an aquatic liverwort. In some years and some places it occurs in great abundance, covering the surface of the water with a green or red mass of vegetation. Azolla has a symbiotic, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, Anabaena azollae Strasburger; the nitrogen-fixing capabilities of Azolla (through its symbiont) have resulted in its use as a fertilizer, green manure, and livestock feed, much promoted in recent years, but used historically in Asian rice paddies for centuries (Lumpkin in FNA 1993b).
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Evrard & Van Hove (2004)=Z; Lumpkin in FNA (1993b).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: AZOLLA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC:
FAMILY AUTHORITY:
FAMILY COMMON:
FAMILY SUMMARY:
FAMILY REFERENCE:

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS:
LEAVES:
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS:
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT:
DURATION: Annual
HABIT: Herb, Fern
LEAF ARRANGEMENT:
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION:
FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: Jun-Sep
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
x x x x

BLOOM COLOR:
White Red Pink Orange Yellow Green Blue Lavender Purple Violet Brown Not Applicable
x

FRUITING PERIOD:
DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE:
NATIVE RANGE: eastern U.S., Mexico to South America
HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id acc_num acc_dt coll_id Action
994 1985-0690 View
2413 1986-2252 View
4412 1992-0568 View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num acc_id loc_num pers_num inst_dt Action
1874 994 141 NCBG staff 1985-06-05 View
4111 2413 141 NCBG staff 1986-12-31 View
6740 4412 200 NCBG staff 1993-03-01 View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: AZCA
USDA Common Name: Carolina Mosquitofern
Native Status: L48 (N), PR (N), CAN (I)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV), USA+ (PR), CAN (BC, ON)
Duration: Annual
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Azolla caroliniana
COMMON NAME: Eastern Mosquito Fern, Water fern
SYNONYMY: [= Ar, C, F, FNA, G, Il, K, Pa, RAB, S, Tn, Va; < A. filiculoides - WH3, Z]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-Sep.
HABITAT: Stagnant waters of interdune ponds, limesink ponds, old millponds, beaver ponds, floodplain sloughs, often locally abundant.
COMMENTS: Widespread in the se. United States, extending irregularly north (partly from introductions) into s. New England and MN, and south into the tropics.
RANGE MAP:

Key to Map Symbols
ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
()
SUMMARY:
REFERENCE:
ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Azolla Lam. (Mosquitofern)
SUMMARY: A small genus of about 6 species, floating aquatics, in tropical and warm temperate regions. Very un-fernlike, this floating aquatic looks superficially more like an aquatic liverwort. In some years and some places it occurs in great abundance, covering the surface of the water with a green or red mass of vegetation. Azolla has a symbiotic, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, Anabaena azollae Strasburger; the nitrogen-fixing capabilities of Azolla (through its symbiont) have resulted in its use as a fertilizer, green manure, and livestock feed, much promoted in recent years, but used historically in Asian rice paddies for centuries (Lumpkin in FNA 1993b).
REFERENCE: Evrard & Van Hove (2004)=Z; Lumpkin in FNA (1993b).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Azolla caroliniana in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Azolla caroliniana in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Azolla caroliniana in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Azolla caroliniana in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Azolla caroliniana in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Azolla caroliniana

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 12856 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 12856 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 12856 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)

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9 photo(s) available in the Image Gallery

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