Home / Resources and Writings / Web Articles / Hydatellaceae
Hydatellaceae
Information on the Hydatellaceae
Author: UBC Botanical Garden
Background
This information clearinghouse article was prepared to supplement the Nature article published on March 15, 2007, “Hydatellaceae identified as a new branch near the base of the angiosperm phylogenetic tree.” by Saarela JM et al. This group of UBC-led researchers discovered that the Hydatellaceae had been overlooked as an early angiosperm plant family at the base of the flowering plant evolutionary tree. Previously, the Hydatellaceae were thought to be in the Poales (the order of flowering plants including grasses, sedges, bromeliads, etc.). Through DNA analysis and morphological investigations, evidence indicated that the Hydatellaceae are more closely related to the Nymphaeaceae, or water lilies. As noted in the abstract to the article, this discovery rewrites “our understanding of angiosperm structural and reproductive biology, physiology, ecology and taxonomy”.
Media coverage of this discovery will be added to the right sidebar as news stories become available (BBC Radio interview, etc.).
UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research has also provided the following on its weblogs:
- A New Understanding of the Early Evolution of Flowering Plants, by Dr. Sean Graham, an entry on the Etaerio weblog, where UBC Botanical Garden aggregates news stories about plants.
- Hydatellaceae, an entry on Botany Photo of the Day released upon the lifting of the media embargo at 11am local time on March 14, 2007. Botany Photo of the Day is read by roughly 4000 unique visitors each day.
- Hydatella australis stained glass artwork on Botany Photo of the Day. This was provided as an under-embargo “teaser” at midnight on March 14, local time.
Photographs
Hydatella inconspicua (Hydatellaceae) from Lake Kai Iwi, New Zealand. Photograph © Justin Goh, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Used with permission.
Hydatella inconspicua (Hydatellaceae) in a storage container. Plants from Lake Kai Iwi, New Zealand. Photograph © Justin Goh, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Used with permission.
Snorkelling for Hydatella inconspicua (Hydatellaceae) in Lake Kai Iwi, New Zealand. Photograph © Justin Goh, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Used with permission.
Lake Kai Iwi, New Zealand provides habitat for Hydatella inconspicua (Hydatellaceae). Photograph © Justin Goh, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Used with permission.
Diagram showing location of Hydatella inconspicua (Hydatellaceae) in Lake Kai Iwi, New Zealand Photograph / illustration © Justin Goh, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Used with permission.
A minature turf of Hydatella filamentosa from Dove Lake, Tasmania, where it grows rooted in gravel in the clear water of a mountain lake, down to 75 cm deep. Some Hydatellaceae are annuals and flower above water, but this species is perennial, flowering under water and often forming a dense mat of roots and rhizomes. Voucher B.G. Briggs 9774 (NSW). Photograph © Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney. Photographer: Simone Cottrell. Used with permission.
Hydatella filamentosa from Dove Lake, Tasmania. The bracts of old inflorescences show among the leaves and rhizomes below the tuft of leaves. The species grows in the clear water of mountain lakes and flowering is under water. The scale is in mm and the plants less than 1.5 cm tall. Voucher B.G. Briggs 9774 (NSW). Photograph © Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney. Photographer: Simone Cottrell. Used with permission.
Hydatella filamentosa from Mt. Field, Tasmania. Photograph © Hervé Sauquet, Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney. Used with permission.
Hydatella filamentosa from Mt. Field, Tasmania. Photograph © Hervé Sauquet, Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney. Used with permission.
Hydatella filamentosa from Mt. Field, Tasmania. Photograph © Hervé Sauquet, Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney. Used with permission.
Flowering individuals of Trithuria submersa (Hydatellaceae) from Western Australia, 1998 (see pencil for scale). Each “flower” is a compact head of multiple flowers. Photograph © Dennis Stevenson, New York Botanical Garden (www.plantsystematics.org). Used with permission.
Flowering individuals of Trithuria submersa (Hydatellaceae) from Western Australia, 1998. Each “flower” is a compact head of multiple flowers. Photograph © Dennis Stevenson, New York Botanical Garden (www.plantsystematics.org). Used with permission.
Inflorescences of Hydatella dioica from Unicup Nature Reserve, east of Manjimup, Western Australia, voucher T.D. Macfarlane & R.E. Tuckett TDM 3988 (PERTH), 26/10/06. The inflorescences and plants are unisexual, although in a couple of instances in the photos close-growing plants give the impression of being bisexual plants. Photograph © T.D. Macfarlane, Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Environment and Conservation. Used with permission.
Inflorescences of Hydatella dioica from Unicup Nature Reserve, east of Manjimup, Western Australia, voucher T.D. Macfarlane & R.E. Tuckett TDM 3988 (PERTH), 26/10/06. The inflorescences and plants are unisexual, although in a couple of instances in the photos close-growing plants give the impression of being bisexual plants. Photograph © T.D. Macfarlane, Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Environment and Conservation. Used with permission.
Inflorescences of Hydatella dioica from Unicup Nature Reserve, east of Manjimup, Western Australia, voucher T.D. Macfarlane & R.E. Tuckett TDM 3988 (PERTH), 26/10/06. The inflorescences and plants are unisexual, although in a couple of instances in the photos close-growing plants give the impression of being bisexual plants. Photograph © T.D. Macfarlane, Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Environment and Conservation. Used with permission.
Artwork
Untitled (lady holding Hydatella). Artwork © . Used with permission.
Stained glass image of Hydatella australis. Artwork © Ruth Stockey. Used with permission. Photograph of artwork by Daniel Mosquin. Adapted from artwork of Hydatella australis by Engler, via www.plantsystematics.org.
Artwork © Joelle C. (age 11), inspired by the Hydatellaceae discovery. Used with permission.
Further Reading on Hydatellaceae
Hamann, U.
Hydatellaceae – A New Family of Monocotyledonae
NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF BOTANY 14:193-6. 1976.
Hamann, U.
In: The Families and Genera of the Vascular Plants IV. Flowering Plants.
Monocotyledons. Alismatanae and Commelinanae (except Gramineae).
Pages 231-234.
Ed: Kubitzki, K.
Springer, Berlin, 1998.
Hydatellaceae via Florabase, the Flora of Western Australia
