Department of Agronomy

Bangladesh Agricultural University

Keshordam

Common Name: Water Primrose
Scientific Name: Ludwigia adscendens (L.) H.Hara
Family Name: Onagraceae
Type: Broad Leaf - Aquatic

Identification Notes

Ludwigia adscendens Photo 1
Ludwigia adscendens Photo 1
Ludwigia adscendens Photo 2
Ludwigia adscendens Photo 3
EPPO Code
LUDAC
Life Cycle
Perennial
Morphology
Stem- prostrate or erect, rooting at nodes, with conspicuous, white, erect, spindle-shaped pneumatophores clustered at nodes of floating stems and from roots. Leaves- narrowly lanceolate, 6-12 main veins on each side of midrib. Flowers- solitary in leaf axils. Sepals 5; up to 14 x 2.8 mm. Petals up to 18 x 10 mm. Stamens 10; pollen shed singly. Fruit- a terete capsule, up to 30 mm long, longitudinally 10-ribbed, bulged at 1.5 mm intervals, light brown, thick walled, tardily dehiscent; pedicels up to 20 mm long. Seeds- uniseriate, up to 1.3 mm long, pale brown, firmly embedded in coherent cubes of woody endocarp.
Growing season
-
Germination period
-
Flowering period
July - September
Propagation
-
Habitat
Wetlands, along rivers and lakes, often floating, sometimes in large masses
Weed potential
Ludwigia adscendens is primarily a weed of rice, especially in South-East Asia (Moody 1989): deepwater rice (Bangladesh), dry-seeded rice (Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam) transplanted rice (Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam), upland rice (India, Laos, Nepal), lowland rice (Cambodia, Laos), wet-seeded rice (India, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam), and tidal swamp rice (Indonesia). It has also been recorded as a weed of irrigation channels and other open water systems in South-East Asia (Gopal, 1990) and in South America (mainly Chile: Fernández et al., 1990). It is a troublesome weed of a range of irrigated crops in Africa (Cook, 1974). It has also been found in Leucaena plantations in Indonesia (Siregar, 1987).
Control measure
-
Recommended herbicide
-
Distribution
-
Medicinal properties
-
References

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