Phyllanthus fluitans, also known as the red root floater, floating spurge, or apple duckweed is a species of free floating aquatic plant and herbaceous perennial in the family Phyllanthaceae. This species is one of the only three non-terrestrial species in the genus Phyllanthus, with the other species being P. leonardianus and P. felicis. The generic name comes from Ancient Greek meaning leaf or a leaf (φύλλον, phúllon; phyll) flower (ἄνθος, anthos; anthus), and the specific name comes from Latin meaning floating or float (fluito; fluitans). It was described in March 1863 by George Bentham and Johannes Müller Argoviensis.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Phyllanthus fluitans has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens3
Marker genes3
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections3
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK3★rbcL3★ITS4
plant barcodefungal barcode
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type128 records
Wild obs. + sensor16
Museum / vouchered103
Other9
Origin
Native21
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO340 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy83% within 1 km
≤100 m 2≤1 km 3≤10 km 1
6 georeferenced · 10 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor16
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy67% within 1 km
≤100 m 10≤1 km 6≤10 km 6>10 km 2
24 georeferenced · 79 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence103
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions16 of 38 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
UFMSlocation not on record
15
Chicago, US
7
Durango, MX
6
Bronx, US
6
Saint Louis, US
5
Xiamen, CN
5
Centro de Pesquisas Agropecuarias do Tropico Umidolocation not on record
5
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
5
Sekolah Ilmu dan Teknologi Hayati, Institut Teknologi Bandunglocation not on record
4
Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record
3
BAYLUlocation not on record
3
Tampa, US
3
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
2
Stockholm, SE
2
Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabascolocation not on record
2
CICYTEXlocation not on record
2
Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record
2
Mexico City, MX
2
San Isidro, AR
2
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
2
Altos de Pipe, VE
1
CASlocation not on record
1
Universidad de Córdoba (UC)location not on record
1
Tomioka, JP
1
Gradt L. Websterlocation not on record
1
Kew, GB
1
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record
1
INBIOlocation not on record
1
Fundación Miguel Lillolocation not on record
1
Clocation not on record
1
Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas - SINCHIlocation not on record
1
Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record
1
South Kensington, GB
1
Davis, US
1
Brasília, BR
1
Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeirolocation not on record
1
Santarém, BR
1
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)location not on record
1
38 institutions · 101 of 103 vouchered records shown · 2 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA3 detections
Where the DNA of Phyllanthus fluitans was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found3
Studies independent surveys1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 3 detections have coordinates
Open the map0 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation3 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility128 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI3 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics3 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗