Dear all,
I am working on risk assessment of exotic aquatic plant species in Switzerland. I am collecting information about the biological attributes of species, In particular about their reproductive mode. Here my question is for Sagittaria latifolia, native from North America. It can form dioicious or monoecious populations, reproduce both vegetatively and sexually in its native range.
But I learned on CABI that in Europe it reproduces only vegetatively. Nevertheless the reference is quite old (Preston CD, Croft JM, 1997. Aquatic plants in Britain and Ireland. Aquatic plants in Britain and Ireland., 365 pp.) and I would like to be sure that this species is still "behaving" as it has been described 20 years ago.
So does someone here know something about current Sagittaria latifolia populations and their reproductive mode in Europe?
Thanks in advance!
Cheers
Aurélie
Hi Aurélie,
Many non-native Sagittaria populations in the UK appear not to reproduce sexually and this species apparently does not produce viable seed here. This is a significant problem because many Sagittaria taxa cannot be identified reliably without seed and so most non-native Sagittaria is simply reported as S. latifolia without accurate identification - I don't think that we know how many species of Sagittaria are naturalised in the UK
Hi Richard!
Thanks a lot for your response.
Yes indeed I was wondering how to distinguish S. latifolia from others without ripe seeds. In cabi you are cited to explain how to distinguish S. latifolia from the native S. saggitifolia without seeds but with flowers (http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/109160).
So S. latifolia populations sometimes produce flower but never fructify? Is the fecundation is impossible because we only have male plants in Europe ? (it seems when i have a look to the pictures... I only see stamens).
I am co-author of a small fieldguide for exotic aquatic plants in The Netherlands. This might have some useful information for you even though it is written for a non-scientific audience, primarily people at waterboards and others involved in the management of waterways. I added a link ( http://www.wetterskipfryslan.nl/documenten/onderhoud/invasieve_waterplanten_veldgids_4005kb.pdf ). It is in Dutch but google translate will help and I can answer questions if something is unclear.
I am not sure that S. latifolia does not produce viable seeds. I would not know why that would be the case. Female plants are present in the Netherlands (http://waarneming.nl/waarneming/view/110382677) and often there is very little empirical evidence for this kind of claims.
Dear Roy,
thanks a lot for the links. I thinks I will be able to understand your report thanks to some skills in german and to google translate!
Do you know if your populations are monoecious or diocious?
Dear Aurélia,
I'am not sure but you could check the photos on http://waarneming.nl/soort/photos/9169?from=1980-01-01&to=2016-03-16&sex=&id_kleed=0&os=1&id_akt=0&licentie=0&only_rated=0&only_approved=0&type_foto=0&maand=0&page=1 (a database for nature observations in the Netherlands)
Most seem to be male plants (or vegetative) at first glance. That is also what you find in most stores as the flowers are larger. So if I'd have to guess I'd say most populations are only male plants but female plants do occur. I do not know whether there are monoecious populations.
Indeed, on pictures 1-5 we see male flowers (Leek) but then we see female flowers (Huizen). So at least you have male and female plants within a perimeter of approximately 130 km.
It doesn't mean that you don't have mixed populations somewhere!
Thanks a lot for your help!
It indeed does not mean that there are mixed populations but these pictures are made by hobbyists that use it to illustrate the observation. Most were probably unaware that male and female plants exist in this species. I'll post a question on the forum, it might very well be that some are aware and know for their local population.
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