Azolla filiculoides var rubra
Photo: Matt Salmond
Azolla Red
- Scientific Name
- Azolla filiculoides var rubra
- Origin
- New Zealand and Australia
- Temperature (°C)
- Oct-22
- pH range
- 7
- Light
- Medium
- Notes
- A native free-floating perennial fern that forms a conspicuous red surface on fertile still water. Common in ponds lakes and quiet streams. Has long un-branched roots. The aquatic fern Azolla is the only fern that can fix nitrogen. It does so by virtue of a symbiotic association with a cyanobacterium (Anabaena azollae). Other species, such as A caroliniata are found worldwide are sometimes used as a valuable source of nitrogen for agriculture.
- Propagation
- Vegetatively. Small branches break off the parent colony & float away. Can spread quickly in ideal conditions
- Source
- FNZAS