Salvinia auriculata Aubl. (incl. S. molesta Mitchell, S. radula Baker) (S-Am.) – Increasingly cultivated in private ponds, very rarely escaping and usually ephemeral (Oud-Heverlee, 1981; Zelem, 1991).
Salvinia auriculata is the floating fern most commonly cultivated nowadays. The species is treated in a broad sense here, including Salvinia molesta. The latter, the notorious kariba weed, probably is a hybrid taxon of horticultural origin. It usually has a vigorous growth and our plants most likely belong to this taxon. The application of names in this group is controversial (see also de la Sota 1995, Moran & Smith 1999, de la Sota 2001, Schwartsburd & Miranda 2017).
Selected literature
Buccomino G., Buonfiglio V. & Vinci M. (2011) Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitch: considerazioni sulle misure di controllo e gestione della specie aliena invasiva nel Pozzo del Merro (Sant'Angelo Romano - Roma). Annali Museo Civico Rovereto 26: 359-372 [Available online at: http://www.museocivico.rovereto.tn.it/UploadDocs/3671_art10_buccomino.pdf]
De la Sota E.R. (1995) Nuevos sinónimos en Salvinia Ség. (Salviniaceae, Pteridophyta). Darwiniana 33: 309–313.
De la Sota E.R. (2001) Sobre el tipo de Salvinia adnata (Salviniaceae, Pteridophyta). Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica 36(1–2):125–129.
Forno I.W. (1983) Native distribution of the Salvinia auriculata complex and keys to species identification. Aquatic Botany 17(1): 71-83.
Margot J. (1983) La végétation aquatique des “Springputten” en forêt de Meerdael. Evolution et présences floristiques. Les Naturalistes Belges 64: 199-221.
Mitchell D.S. (1972) The kariba weed: Salvinia molesta. Brit. Fern Gaz. 10: 251-252.
Moran R.C. & Smith A.R. (1999) Salvinia adnata Desv. versus S. molesta D.S. Mitch. American Fern Journal 89: 268-269.
Neyland R. & Bushnell J. (2013) Confirmation of kariba-weed, Salvinia molesta (Salviniaceae) in the Calcasieu River basin, Louisiana. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 7(1):517-518. [available online at: http://brit.org/webfm_send/341]
Schwartsburd P.B. & Miranda C.V. (2017) (2494) Proposal to reject the name Salvinia adnata (Salviniaceae). Taxon 66: 202-203. [available online at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314486280_2494_Proposal_to_reje...