Skip to content
Paepalanthus fluviatilis
Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via iNaturalist

All other plant families

Paepalanthus fluviatilis

LC Least Concern

Names

English—
Dutch—
Spanish—
Chinese水谷精
Scientific namePaepalanthus fluviatilis (Aubl.) Christenh. & Byng

About this species

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.

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.

Read more on Wikipedia · Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Classification

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassLiliopsida
OrderPoales
FamilyEriocaulaceae
GenusPaepalanthus

In Suriname

61Records in Suriname
1iNaturalist observations
1783First record
2025Latest record

Where it has been recorded

  • Sipaliwini7
  • Paramaribo2
  • Brokopondo1

Districts with at least one record that has coordinates. Shaded districts have records.

Records by month

All years combined.

Sources & credits

Spotted a mistake or know another local name? Tell us.