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Aponogeton ranunculiflorus
Also called Sehlabathebe Waterlily
A tiny, endangered aquatic bulbous plant from high-altitude sandstone pools and wet tarns in the Drakensberg and Lesotho. It is a protected species in the wild and is not commonly grown, so cultivation is rarely attempted and the key is to keep its cold, wet habitat.
Aponogeton ranunculiflorus, the Sehlabathebe water lily, is a tiny and endangered species of aquatic plant, that belongs to the pondweed family Aponogetonaceae. It is protected in the Sehlabathebe National Park in the mountains of Lesotho, where it is very localised, and nearby in the uKhahlamba / Drakensberg Park of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Outside these areas it is seriously threatened. It is found in sandstone rock pools, up to 7 metres deep, and in permanently wet tarns or sensitive high altitude mires, at altitudes between about 2,600 and 3,200 metres. Its spiralled stems allow the flowers to remain at surface level. Threats to the species include overgrazing and trampling by cattle, overburning, erosion and subsistence farming. Their small (1 cm) corms can survive the drying out of the pools, or being frozen into the muddy bottoms.
Aponogeton abyssinicus · Aponogeton azureus · Aponogeton bernierianus · Aponogeton boivinianus · Aponogeton capuronii · Crinkled Aponogeton · Cape pondweed · Aponogeton lakhonensis · Aponogeton longiplumulosus · Lace Plant · Drifting Sword Plant · Aponogeton rigidifolius
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Aponogeton ranunculiflorus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
