Blyxa aubertii Rich.

General habit

Blyxa aubertii is an annual herbaceous plant, submerged, subacaulis, densely tufted, with ribbon-like leaves, all radical, of variable height, depending on the depth of water in which it grows.
 
Underground system

Numerous fibrous roots
 
Stem

The stem is reduced to a plane, carrying a rosette of 12 to 15 straight ribbon-like leaves.
 
Leaf

The leaves are all radical, without petiole, straight, linear, 15-50 cm long and 5-7 mm wide, soft, white at the base and a pale green above, usually ending in a point up to the surface of the water.
 
Inflorescence

The plant bears unisexual inflorescences (dioecious): aerial flower coming from a winged spathe, bifid at the top.
 
Flower

The spathe of the male plants has several stalked flowers: male flowers with 3-9 stamens, short filaments; linear-oblong anther; 3 rudiment style.
The spathe of female plants are 5 to 6 cm long, bi-lobed at the top and widely winged laterally, with solitary flower and stalk as long as the leaves: female flower with perianth inserted at the top of a very long tube that extends the inferior ovary; 3 conspicuous, epigynous, linear staminodes, 8 to 10 mm long; the ovary is very elongated, linear, unilocular, with three parietal placentas; 3 stylar, linear-filiform branches of 2 cm long; numerous ovules on each placenta.
The sepals are green, oblong, 10 mm long by 5 mm wide; the petals are white, linear and filiform in the upper half, twice as long as the sepals
 
Fruit

The fruits are inferior, long linear, 4 to 6 cm long and 2 mm wide, membranous, included in the spathe.
 
Seed

Numerous small oblong seeds surrounded by a mucilaginous pulp.

Origin

Blyxa aubertii is native to subtropical Asia.
 
Worldwide distribution

This species is found in East Africa and Madagascar, India and Pakistan, China, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Australia and the Pacific islands.

https://www.gbif.org/species/2865952