Hottonia inflata

The name Hottonia inflata has been known in aquaristics for a long time. The plants so labelled in the hobby and trade, however, belong to the European species Hottonia palustris.

Only two species are known from the genus Hottonia (featherfoil): H. inflata and H. palustris. The true Hottonia inflata is native to eastern and south-eastern North America. We are unsure whether it has ever actually been cultivated as an aquarium plant. We can therefore give no information here on the cultivation requirements of this species.

The American featherfoil grows in its native range in ponds, swamps, streams and quiet river backwaters at low elevations (0-200 m above sea level). The species is considered threatened to endangered in various US states and is probably extinct in Pennsylvania. H. inflata is a winter annual in the wild: it germinates from seed in autumn, overwinters as a green plant, flowers in spring or early summer and dies after fruiting. The stems of the younger plants grow submerged. At flowering time, unusual-looking inflorescences, simple or branched at the base, develop at the shoot tip and project into the air. The inflorescence axis is inflated between the nodes, to which the species name refers (inflata = "inflated"). The spongy, air-filled tissue of the inflorescences serves as a float.

Hottonia inflata differs from H. palustris among other things in the following characteristics:

• The plant is annual (H. palustris is perennial = lives for several years).
• Distinctly inflated axis of the inflorescence (not inflated in H. palustris).
• The flowers are smaller and are arranged in greater numbers on the whorls of the inflorescence.

- To be continued -