Neobeckia aquatica (Eaton) Greene

Locations ofNeobeckia aquatica (Eaton) Greene in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Brassicaceae
Botanical Name
Neobeckia aquatica (Eaton) Greene
Common Name
Lake Cress
Synonym(s)
Rorippa aquatica (Eaton) E.J. Palmer & Steyermark; Armoracia aquatica (Eaton) Wiegand; Armoracia lacustris (A. Gray) Al-Shehbaz & V. Bates
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Rorripa aquatica (Eaton) E.J. Palmer & Steyermark
Comments
This rare aquatic has been variously treated a member of the genera Armoracia, Neobeckia, and Rorippa. An early molecular study (Les 1994, Aq. Bot. 49: 149-165) found that Neobeckia is more closely related to Rorippa than to Armoracia, but also that "a relatively high level of DNA sequence divergence separates Neobeckia from all other aquatic cress genera." This, plus morphological considerations, led Les to retain Neobeckia as a monotypic genus rather than to merge it with Rorippa. This species differs from all Rorripa spp. in petal color, habitat, and fruit characters; also, plants of widely scattered populations of it are all triploids, which is highly unusual (Les et al. 1995, Rhodora 97: 185-200). Continuing to treat this as Neobeckia aquatica seems like a reasonable way to recognize its unique features until additional studies settle its generic placement.
Habitat
Wet depressions in sandy alluvial bottomland. Rare, se. Coastal Plain; known historically from Southampton County, where it was last collected by Fernald (1937) from Three Creek near Drewryville.
Native Status
Native

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