Mayaca

Mayaca
	Mayaca fluviatilis , illustration
Systematics
Class :	Bedecktsamer (Magnoliopsida)
	Monocots
	Commelinids
Order :	Sweet grass (Poales)
Family :	Mayacaceae
Genre :	Mayaca
Scientific name
	Mayaca
	Aubl.

Flower of Mayaca fluviatilis

The Mayaca , also called moss herbs are the only genus of the family of Mayacaceae in the order of Süßgrasartigen (Poales). The five species are aquatic plants . The river moss herb ( Mayaca fluviatilis ) is used in aquariums .

description

Habit and leaves

The Mayaca species are creeping, moss-like-looking, perennial herbaceous plants . They grow in fresh water and the leaves can also be submerged. These aquatic plants are anchored in the water bed with roots. The long stem is sympodial . No hair can be seen on the plants; but short-lived trichomes are formed in the leaf axils.

The alternate and spiral leaves on the stem are sessile. The simple, linear to thread-like, single-veined leaf blade has a smooth leaf edge and usually ends in a two-part tip. The stomata are paracytic.

blossoms

The flowers stand individually on lateral inflorescence shafts with membranous bracts above the water surface. The small, hermaphrodite flowers are radial symmetry and threefold. There are three free sepals . The three free, short nailed petals are light pink to purple or white. There is only one circle with three free, fertile stamens . The basifixen dust bag open with lying at the top of pores or pore-like slots. The two-celled pollen grains have an aperture and are sulcat with a fine net-like surface. Three carpels have become a top permanent, single-chamber ovary grown. The style ends in a single or three-branch scar. The 25 to 100 orthotropic ovules are in two rows. The pollination occurs probably by insects.

Fruits and seeds

Triple capsule fruits are formed, they are still surrounded by the sepals when ripe and contain only a few seeds. The egg-shaped to spherical seeds have a net-like surface; they contain starch and the outer layer of the endosperm contains proteins. The seeds are usually spread via water.

Ingredients and chromosome numbers

Quercetin is present in flavonols . Starch and proteins are stored in the seeds. Otherwise no ingredients are detected.

The number of chromosomes is n = 8.

Systematics and distribution

The genus Mayaca has a disjoint area : on the one hand four (some authors even more) species from the warm temperate areas to the tropics of both American continents (the northernmost occurrences are in the southeastern USA), on the other hand one species ( Mayaca baumii ) in tropical West Africa .

Within the order of the Poales , the Mayacaceae are most closely related to the Thurniaceae , Juncaceae, and Cyperaceae .

The genus Mayaca was first published in 1775 by Jean Baptiste Christophe Fusée Aublet in Histoire des plantes de la Guiane Françoise , 1, 42-44, plate 15. The family name was given in 1842 by Carl Sigismund Kunth in treatises of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin , 1840 , Published 93. Synonyms for Mayaca Aublet are: Biaslia Vand., Coletia Vell., Syena Schreb. The differentiation of the species is difficult and so there were a number of synonyms (with a confusion of names in the aquarium hobby ).

There is only one genus with four to ten species in the Mayacaceae family:

Mayaca Aubl. :
- Mayaca baumii pickle : The only species outside of America; it is native to the Congo area, Angola and Zambia.
- River Mossweed ( Mayaca fluviatilis Aublet , Syn .: Biaslia vandellii Roem. , Mayaca vandellii (Roem.) Schott & Endl. , Mayaca aubletii Michx. , Syena aubletii (Michx.) Schott & Endl. , Syena nuttalliana Schult. , Mayaca michauxii Schott & Endl. , Mayaca longipes Gand. , Mayaca caroliniana Gand. , Mayaca madida (Vell.) Stellfeld , Coletia madida Vell. , Mayaca wrightii Griseb. ): It is widespread in tropical and subtropical America, from Texas to Argentina.
- Mayaca kunthii Seub. : It occurs in southern Venezuela, Brazil and Uruguay.
- Mayaca longipes Mart. ex Seub. : The homeland is northern South America from Colombia to Brazil.
- Mayaca sellowiana Kunth : It occurs from Costa Rica to Argentina and Uruguay.

swell

The Mayacaceae family on the AP website. (Section description, systematics and dissemination)
The Mayacaceae family at DELTA by L. Watson and MJ Dallwitz. (Section Description, Ingredients and Distribution)
Robert B. Faden: Mayacaceae in the Flora of North America , Volume 22: Online. (Section Description and Distribution)

Individual evidence

↑ Christel Kasselmann : Aquarien Pflanzen , 2nd edition, Ulmer, 1999, ISBN 978-3-8001-7454-6 , p. 357.
↑ Mayacaceae in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Mayaca. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved August 17, 2018.

[1] Christel Kasselmann : Aquarien Pflanzen , 2nd edition, Ulmer, 1999, ISBN 978-3-8001-7454-6 , p. 357.

[2] Mayacaceae in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.

[WCSP-3] Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Mayaca. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved August 17, 2018.