Aeschynomene fluitans
Peter
Common Name:
Giant water sensitive plant
Synonyms and Other Names:
Botswana wonder, water pea, golden Botswana, giant sensitive plant, large leafed sensitive plant
Identification:
According to Verdcourt (2000): Habit: perennial, floating, aquatic forb
Stems/Roots: hollow to spongy stems and dense adventitious roots.
Leaves: pinnately compound leaves up to 8 cm with 16-26 pairs of leaflets; leaflets 9-25 mm long, typically glabrous, blue-green in color; margin entire or finely serrate. Leaves close slowly when touched, as in Mimosa spp.
Flowers: solitary, yellow, papilionacious flowers in the leaf axils.
Fruits/Seeds: segmented loment (indehiscent legume) is straight or slightly curved and 1.5-5 cm long with a ridge around the margin.
Look-a-likes: other jointvetch species (Aeschynomene spp.) in the US have similar leaves and flowers, but are not aquatic, floating plants.
Size:
1 to 4.5 m total length (Verdcourt 2000)
Native Range:
Southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia) (Verdcourt 2000)
Ecology:
Habitat: slow-moving rivers, ponds, and floodplains (Verdcourt 2000).
Tolerances: reported hardy in USDA zones 8-11 (Florida Aquatic 2008, Pond Megastore Wholesale Waterlilies Department 2017) where average annual minimum temperatures range between -12° and 4.4° C (10° to 40° F) (USDA-ARS 2012).
Community: associated with other aquatic and riparian plant species in native Botswana and Namibia, such as Ceratophyllum, Cyperus, Ludwigia, Mikania, Mimosa, Nymphaea, Persicaria, Phragmites, and Schoenoplectus (Ellery and Tacheba 2003, Strohbach 2013).
Means of Introduction:
This plant is available for sale in the US as an ornamental pond plant through the internet and various nurseries and catalogs (Allen et al. 2017). Improper disposal or intentional release by a home-owner is the most likely initial pathway.
Status:
The status of the Lousiana population is unknown; a waste water treatment facility just downstream of Lake Arrow Wood may serve to reduce the number of viable seeds or plant fragments dispersing downstream to the Abita River (K. Rust, pers. comm. 2007). The SW Florida population is established and has likely spread from Lake Dosson into neighboring Sunshine Lake (L. Holland, pers. comm. 2017).
Great Lakes Impacts:
Remarks:
The habit, leaves and fruit match specimens from native range. Sample or detailed photograph of flower required to confirm to species (G. Lewis, pers. comm. 2007).
References
(click for full reference list)
Author:
Pfingsten, I.A.
Contributing Agencies:
Revision Date:
6/29/2023
Citation for this information:
Pfingsten, I.A., 2024, Aeschynomene fluitans Peter: U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL, and NOAA Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System, Ann Arbor, MI, https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/GreatLakes/FactSheet.aspx?Species_ID=2730, Revision Date: 6/29/2023, Access Date: 5/2/2024
This information is preliminary or provisional and is subject to revision. It is being provided to meet the need for timely best science. The information has not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the information.