Azolla

Azolla (common called mosquito fern, water fern, and fairy moss) is a <a href="/facts/Genus/m8EFjSms">genus</a> of seven species of <a href="/facts/Aquatic_plant/Tr1rlK49">aquatic</a> <a href="/facts/Fern/DKlstRPL">ferns</a> in the family <a href="/facts/Salviniaceae/cULw6Abc">Salviniaceae</a>. They are extremely reduced in form and specialized, having a significantly different appearance to other ferns and more resembling some <a href="/facts/Moss/YF8Rbf8y">mosses</a> or even <a href="/facts/Lemnoideae/CnCc3S5Y">duckweeds</a>. <a href="/facts/Azolla_filiculoides/e5SfojuF">Azolla filiculoides</a> is one of two fern species for which a reference genome has been published. It is believed that this genus grew so prolifically during the <a href="/facts/Eocene/EYgI8Uco">Eocene</a> (and thus absorbed such a large amount of carbon) that it triggered a global cooling event that has lasted to the present.
Azolla may establish as an <a href="/facts/Invasive_plant/Ya1v6RGx">invasive plant</a> in areas where it is not native. In such a situation, it can alter <a href="/facts/Aquatic_ecosystem/TkNqBg4N">aquatic ecosystems</a> and <a href="/facts/Biodiversity/GruakEzs">biodiversity</a> substantially by exhausting oxygen and covering water surface making underwater plants unable to photosynthesise.

Azolla open-in-new

Azolla