Myriophyllum
Encyclopedia
Myriophyllum is a genus of about 69 species of freshwater aquatic plant
s, with a cosmopolitan distribution
. The center of diversity for Myriophyllum is Australia with 43 recognized species (37 endemic). Its name comes from Latin, "myrio" meaning "too many to count", and "phyllum", meaning "leaf".
These submersed aquatic plants are perhaps most commonly recognized for having elongate stems with air canals and whorled leaves
that are finely, pinnate
ly divided, but there are many exceptions. For example, the North American species M. tenellum has alternately arranged scale like leaves, while many Australian species have small alternate or opposite leaves that lack dissection. The plants are usually heterophyllous, leaves above the water are often stiffer and smaller than the submerged leaves on the same plant and can lack dissection. Plants are monoecious or dioecious, the flower
s are small, 4(2)-parted and usually borne in emergent leaf axils. The 'female' flowers usually lack petals. The fruit is a schizocarp that splits into four (two) nutlets at maturity.
The fruits and leaves can be an important food source for waterfowl, which are thought to be an important source of seed and clonal dispersal.
This plant may be a hidden resource, eventually seen as a valuable cellulose feed stock in a biofuel
refinery.
Cellulosic ethanol
, or butanol fuel
are seen by many as growing trends in green fuels (including jet fuel).
The widespread invasive, Eurasian water milfoil
, is often controlled with herbicide
containing the chemical diquat dibromide. Control can also be done through careful mechanical management, such as with Lake Mowers, but caution must be used since this is a fragmenting plant, and the fragments may grow back.
Mechanical management can include the use of a long reach lake rake or aquatic weed razor blade tool. Using these tools would be similar to lawn work. These tools are most effective before seeds set. Another very effective use is to keep the plants from ever starting to grow through the use of a Weed Roller or a LakeMaid. These are considered to be automated and unattended machines. Permits may be required by various states. A guide to state permits and aquatic vegetation management can be found at http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/
Recently, Professor Sallie Sheldon of Middlebury College
has found that an aquatic weevil
(Euhrychiopsis lecontei
), which eats nothing but milfoil, may be the most effective weapon against it. http://www.middlebury.edu/about/pubaff/news_releases/2007/pubaff_633246789192631035.htm
Since roughly 2000, hand-harvesting of invasive milfoils has shown much success as a management technique. Several organizations in the New England states have undertaken large scale, lake-wide hand-harvesting management programs with extremely successful results. Acknowledgment had to be made that it is impossible to completely eradicate the species once it is established. As a result, maintenance must be done once an infestation has been reduced to afford-ably controlled levels. Well trained divers with proper techniques have been able to effectively control and then maintain many lakes, especially in the Adirondack Park in Northern New York where chemicals, mechanical harvesters, and other disruptive and largely unsuccessful management techniques are banned. The Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) of Paul Smiths College is one organization whose research has shown time and again the effectiveness of hand-harvesting techniques.
Aquatic plant
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or aquatic macrophytes. These plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water, or at the water's surface. Aquatic plants can only grow in water or in soil that is...
s, with a cosmopolitan distribution
Cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...
. The center of diversity for Myriophyllum is Australia with 43 recognized species (37 endemic). Its name comes from Latin, "myrio" meaning "too many to count", and "phyllum", meaning "leaf".
These submersed aquatic plants are perhaps most commonly recognized for having elongate stems with air canals and whorled leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
that are finely, pinnate
Pinnate
Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna meaning "feather", "wing", or "fin". A similar term is pectinate, which refers to a comb-like arrangement of parts...
ly divided, but there are many exceptions. For example, the North American species M. tenellum has alternately arranged scale like leaves, while many Australian species have small alternate or opposite leaves that lack dissection. The plants are usually heterophyllous, leaves above the water are often stiffer and smaller than the submerged leaves on the same plant and can lack dissection. Plants are monoecious or dioecious, the flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are small, 4(2)-parted and usually borne in emergent leaf axils. The 'female' flowers usually lack petals. The fruit is a schizocarp that splits into four (two) nutlets at maturity.
The fruits and leaves can be an important food source for waterfowl, which are thought to be an important source of seed and clonal dispersal.
This plant may be a hidden resource, eventually seen as a valuable cellulose feed stock in a biofuel
Biofuel
Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases...
refinery.
Cellulosic ethanol
Cellulosic ethanol
Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants.It is a type of biofuel produced from lignocellulose, a structural material that comprises much of the mass of plants. Lignocellulose is composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin...
, or butanol fuel
Butanol fuel
Butanol may be used as a fuel in an internal combustion engine. Because its longer hydrocarbon chain causes it to be fairly non-polar, it is more similar to gasoline than it is to ethanol...
are seen by many as growing trends in green fuels (including jet fuel).
Invasion and Control
Three species (M. aquaticum, M. heterophyllum and M. spicatum) have become particular aggressive invasive plants of lakes, natural waterways and irrigation canals in North America. This has prompted the implementation of control plans by many U.S. states most affected by the invasions.The widespread invasive, Eurasian water milfoil
Myriophyllum spicatum
Myriophyllum spicatum is a species of Myriophyllum native to Europe, Asia, and north Africa. It is a submerged aquatic plant, and grows in still or slow-moving water.-Description:...
, is often controlled with herbicide
Herbicide
Herbicides, also commonly known as weedkillers, are pesticides used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant...
containing the chemical diquat dibromide. Control can also be done through careful mechanical management, such as with Lake Mowers, but caution must be used since this is a fragmenting plant, and the fragments may grow back.
Mechanical management can include the use of a long reach lake rake or aquatic weed razor blade tool. Using these tools would be similar to lawn work. These tools are most effective before seeds set. Another very effective use is to keep the plants from ever starting to grow through the use of a Weed Roller or a LakeMaid. These are considered to be automated and unattended machines. Permits may be required by various states. A guide to state permits and aquatic vegetation management can be found at http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/
Recently, Professor Sallie Sheldon of Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
has found that an aquatic weevil
Weevil
A weevil is any beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than , and herbivorous. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae...
(Euhrychiopsis lecontei
Euhrychiopsis lecontei
Euhrychiopsis lecontei is a type of weevil that has been investigated as a potential biocontrol agent for Eurasian water milfoil . It is found in the eastern and central United States and western Canada .-Life cycle:...
), which eats nothing but milfoil, may be the most effective weapon against it. http://www.middlebury.edu/about/pubaff/news_releases/2007/pubaff_633246789192631035.htm
Since roughly 2000, hand-harvesting of invasive milfoils has shown much success as a management technique. Several organizations in the New England states have undertaken large scale, lake-wide hand-harvesting management programs with extremely successful results. Acknowledgment had to be made that it is impossible to completely eradicate the species once it is established. As a result, maintenance must be done once an infestation has been reduced to afford-ably controlled levels. Well trained divers with proper techniques have been able to effectively control and then maintain many lakes, especially in the Adirondack Park in Northern New York where chemicals, mechanical harvesters, and other disruptive and largely unsuccessful management techniques are banned. The Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) of Paul Smiths College is one organization whose research has shown time and again the effectiveness of hand-harvesting techniques.
Species
- Myriophyllum alpinum
- Myriophyllum alterniflorum
- Myriophyllum amphibium
- Myriophyllum aquaticum
- Myriophyllum artesium
- Myriophyllum austropygmaeum
- Myriophyllum axilliflorum
- Myriophyllum balladoniense
- Myriophyllum bonii
- Myriophyllum callitrichoides
- Myriophyllum caput-medusae
- Myriophyllum coronatum
- Myriophyllum costatum
- Myriophyllum crispatum
- Myriophyllum dicoccum
- Myriophyllum drummondii
- Myriophyllum decussatum
- Myriophyllum echinatum
- Myriophyllum exasperatum
- Myriophyllum farwellii
- Myriophyllum filiforme
- Myriophyllum glomeratum
- Myriophyllum gracile
- Myriophyllum heterophyllum
- Myriophyllum hippuroidesMyriophyllum hippuroidesMyriophyllum hippuroides is a species of water milfoil known by the common name western water milfoil. It is native to the west coast of North America, where it grows in aquatic habitat such as ponds and streams. It generally grows over a meter long, with its stem lined with whorls of fleshy green...
- Myriophyllum humile
- Myriophyllum implicatum
- Myriophyllum indicum
- Myriophyllum integrifolium
- Myriophyllum jacobsii
- Myriophyllum lapidicola
- Myriophyllum latifolium
- Myriophyllum laxum
- Myriophyllum limnophilum
- Myriophyllum lophatum
- Myriophyllum mattogrossense
- Myriophyllum mezianum
- Myriophyllum muelleri
- Myriophyllum muricatum
- Myriophyllum oguraense
- Myriophyllum oliganthum
- Myriophyllum petraeum
- Myriophyllum papillosum
- Myriophyllum pedunculatum
- Myriophyllum pinnatum
- Myriophyllum porcatum
- Myriophyllum propinquum
- Myriophyllum pygmaeum
- Myriophyllum quitense
- Myriophyllum robustum
- Myriophyllum salsugineum
- Myriophyllum siamense
- Myriophyllum sibiricumMyriophyllum sibiricumMyriophyllum sibiricum is a species of water milfoil known by the common name shortspike water milfoil. It is native to Russia, China, and much of North America, where it grows in aquatic habitat such as ponds and streams. It generally grows over a meter long, its green stem drying white. It is...
- Myriophyllum simulans
- Myriophyllum spicatumMyriophyllum spicatumMyriophyllum spicatum is a species of Myriophyllum native to Europe, Asia, and north Africa. It is a submerged aquatic plant, and grows in still or slow-moving water.-Description:...
- Myriophyllum striatum
- Myriophyllum tenellum
- Myriophyllum tetrandrum
- Myriophyllum tillaeoides
- Myriophyllum trachycarpum
- Myriophyllum trifidum
- Myriophyllum triphyllum
- Myriophyllum tuberculatum
- Myriophyllum ussuriense
- Myriophyllum variifolium
- Myriophyllum verrucosum
- Myriophyllum verticillatumWhorled water milfoilThe whorled water milfoil, Myriophyllum verticillatum is an invasive aquatic plant.With the increase in water sports, the spread of many water milfoils has increased over the years...
- Myriophyllum votschii