Paepalanthus fluviatilis is a plant species in the Eriocaulaceae. It is a hydroshrub or subshrub native to southern Mexico, Central America, northern South America (Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, northern Brazil, and the Guianas), Cuba and Trinidad.Govaerts, R. (2004). World Checklist of Monocotyledons Database in ACCESS: 1-54382. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
One use of the plant is for medicinal purposes. The plant is ground up and mixed with a bark to make a liquid in which to bathe nursing infants. It is thought to give the infant strength.
It is also used as an aquarium plant. The shape of its leaf is pleasing and its color makes a good contrast with other plants when it is planted in small groups. However, it is difficult to grow as an aquarium plant.
The species was first described as Tonina fluviatilis by Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet in 1775. In 2018 Maarten J. M. Christenhusz and James W. Byng placed the species in genus Paepalanthus as P. fluviatilis.
References
External links Biological Diversity of the Guiana Smithsonian Plant Collections, Guyana