Skip to main content

Service Notice

The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system and census were set to read-only mode on 1 October 2025. Taxonomic updates published since this time are not being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or Western Australia’s taxonomic names census (Nomos). Conservation listings displayed on Florabase may also be out of date. Please refer to DBCA’s Threatened species and communities webpage for the most recent Threatened and Priority Flora List, noting that recent taxonomic updates are similarly not included. Our database migration is moving to a staging phase. We thank you for your patience as we ensure the integrity of our biodiversity data, develop new workflows, and train staff to use the new systems. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Friday, 1 January 2027 +08:00.

Advanced Search

Rotala L.

Reference
Mant.Pl. p143, 175. (1771)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Family Lythraceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs. Annual, or perennial. Young stems cylindrical, or tetragonal. Hydrophytic, or helophytic. Leaves alternate (rarely), or opposite, or whorled; decussate; 3–8 per whorl; petiolate (rare), or subsessile, or sessile; gland-dotted, or not gland-dotted; simple. Leaf blades entire; elliptic, or oblong, or ovate, or linear, or orbicular; pinnately veined; cross-venulate; cordate, or cuneate at the base. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Plants homostylous, or heterostylous. Entomophilous.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary; axillary; sessile to subsessile; bracteate, or ebracteate (rarely); bracteolate; minute to medium-sized; usually regular; 3–6 merous; pentacyclic. Floral receptacle developing an androphore, or with neither androphore nor gynophore. Free hypanthium present; campanulate, or urceolate, or globose; usually membranous and translucent; sinus appendages 3–5 or absent; nectary glands often present at base. Hypogynous disk present, or absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; (3–)8–16(–32); 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 3–6; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; blunt-lobed; lobes valvate; tubular, or campanulate, or urceolate; unequal but not bilabiate, or regular; persistent. Epicalyx present, or absent. Corolla present, or absent; 3–6; 1 -whorled; polypetalous; plicate; unequal but not bilabiate, or regular; red, or purple, or orange. Petals elliptic, or oblong, or obovate; clawed, or sessile. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 1–6. Androecial sequence determinable, or not determinable. Androecial members when determinable, maturing centripetally; adnate (to the hypanthium, low down); all equal, or markedly unequal; free of one another; 1–3 -whorled (or several). Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens, or including staminodes (occasionally some stamens reduced to staminodes). Stamens 1–6; attached inside the hypanthium; reduced in number relative to the adjacent perianth to isomerous with the perianth to polystemonous; oppositisepalous; inflexed in bud, or erect in bud. Anthers dorsifixed; versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium 2–4 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled, or 2–4 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary incompletely plurilocular; incompletely 2–4 locular; shortly stipitate, or sessile. Gynoecium non-stylate, or stylate. Styles 1; apical. Stigmas 1; usually capitate. Placentation axile. Ovules (1–)5–50 per locule; ascending, or horizontal; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules septicidal (by valves). Seeds non-endospermic; wingless. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight.

Etymology. From the Latin for "wheel" and the diminutive suffux -al-; the leaves of the original species R. verticillatus are verticillate (arranged in a whorl).