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NAJADACEAE

(Najas or Water-Nymph family)

• Medicinal / Folk-medicinal aspects: •
• Adverse effects: An occupational dermatitis in rice field workers trampling Najas growing as a weed has been documented. •
• Veterinary aspects: •

The family comprises a single genus of submerged aquatic plants formerly included in the Hydrocharitaceae. They are of cosmopolitan distribution. Several are invasive weeds, less vigorous species (for example, Najas flexilis Rostk. & W.L.E. Schmidt, the slender naiad) occasionally being used as garden pond plants. Some texts refer to the family as the Naiadaceae.

Najas L.

(syn. Naias Juss.)

Bushy Pondweed, Water Nymph, Naiad, Naiade

According to Mabberley (1997), the genus comprises about 32 species; other authorities (Flora of North America 2000) recognise 40 species. The leaf margins are usually toothed; in some species the stems are armed with prickles on the internodes and abaxially on the midveins.

[Further information available but not yet included in database]

Najas marina L.

(syns Ittnera major C. Gmelin, Naias gracilis Morong, Najas latifolia A. Braun, Najas major All.)

Holly-Leaved Naiad, Spiny Naiad, Greater Naiad, Sawtooth

[Information available but not yet included in database]

Najas minor All.

(syns Caulinia minor Coss. & Germ., Fluvialis minor Pers., Ittnera minor C. Gmelin)

Brittle Waternymph, Lesser Naiad, Minor Naiad, Slender Niad, Spinyleaf Naiad

[Information available but not yet included in database]

References

• Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2000) Flora of North America North of Mexico, Vol. 22. Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Mabberley DJ (1997) The Plant-Book. A portable dictionary of the vascular plants. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• [ + 4 further references not yet included in database]

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