Aponogeton L.f.
Aponogeton is an Old World genus with ca. 45 (Mabberley 2008) or up to 57 species (Chen & al. 2015). It is an important genus whose species are cultivated widely as ornamental aquatic plants. At least one of these, Aponogeton distachyos, is frequently introduced as an ornamental and has become naturalized in many parts of the world. Some additional species are also cultivated, e.g. Aponogeton madagascariensis (Mirbel) Bruggen as an aquarium plant.
Although a fairly recent monograph has been published (van der Bruggen 1985) the genus remains poorly studied systematically. Molecular data provided evidence of hybridization and polyploidy as well as an informative overview of interspecific relationships in the genus (Les & al. 2005). The same authors also demonstrated that morphological data are extremely unreliable taxonomically due to their extensive homoplasy.
Useful additional information on the genus is provided by Heimbiotop - Aquaristik at: http://www.heimbiotop.de/aponogeton.html.
Literature:
Chen L.Y., Grimm G.W., Wang Q.F. & Renner S.S. (2015) A phylogeny and biogeographic analysis for the Cape-Pondweed family Aponogetonaceae (Alismatales). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 82: 111-117. [available online at: http://www.umsl.edu/~renners/Chen_Grimm_Wang_Renner_Apono_MPE_2014.pdf]
Eggers G. (1993) Sri Lanka: 1. Die Aponogeton Arten. Aqua Planta 18(4): 135-141.
Hellquist C.B. & Jacobs S.W.L. (1998) Aponogetonaceae of Australia, with descriptions of six new taxa. Telopea 8: 7-19. [available online at: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/Telopea/results.php?Where=ArtParentRef...
Jacobs S.W.L. (2007) Zwei neue Aponogeton-Arten (Aponogetonaceae) und ein Schlüssel für die australischen Arten. Aqua Planta 32(1): 4-11.
Jacobs S.W.L., Les D.H., Moody M.L. & Hellquist C.B. (2006) Two new species of Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae), and a key to species from Australia. Telopea 11:
129-134. [available online at: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/Telopea/results.php?Where=ArtParentRef...
Kundu S.R., Pal M. & Chakraverty R.K. (1998) Water-hawthorn (Aponogeton L.f.) of Indian Subcontinent: an appraisal. Bangladesh J. Pl. Taxon 5(1): 1-11.
Les D.H., Moody M.L. & Jacobs S.W.L. (2005) Phylogeny and Systematics of Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae): The Australian Species. Systematic Botany 30(3): 503-519. [available online at: http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/people/les/Manuscript_Files/Syst_Bot_30(503)%5B2005%5D.pdf]
Lye K.A. (1989) Flora of tropical East Africa. Aponogetonaceae. Rotterdam: A.A.Balkema: 10 p.
Mabberley D.J. (2008) Mabberley’s plant-book (3th ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: XVIII + 1021 p.
Nelson E.C. (1986a) Aponogetonaceae. In: Walters S.M. & al. (eds.), The European Garden Flora, vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 116-117.
Van Bruggen H.W.E. (1969) Revision of the genus Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae): III. The species of Australia. Blumea 17: 121-137.
Van Bruggen H.W.E. (1973) Revision of the genus Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae): VI. The species of Africa. Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. 43(1-2): 193-233.
Van Bruggen H.W.E. (1985) Monograph of the genus Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae). Bibl. Bot. 137: 1-76.
Van Bruggen H.W.E. (1990) Die Gattung Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae.) Aqua Planta Sonderheft 2: 3-83.
Van Bruggen H.W.E. (1991) Neue Erkenntnisse über die Aponogetonaceae. Aqua Planta 16(2): 46-54.
Yadav S.R. & Gaikwad S.P. (2003) A revision of the Indian Aponogetonaceae. Bull. Bot. Surv. India 45: 39-76.