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Detailed Explanation of Azolla Planting Methods and Technical Key Points

Growing Techniques By Emily Carter 0 views
Foliage Plants

Azolla (Azolla imbricate), class Filicopsida, family Azollaceae. The plant is triangular in shape, floating on the water surface, with a short, slender, horizontally lying stem, pinnately branched, bearing roots below and small leaves above. The leaves are extremely small, scale-like, alternate, arranged in two rows in an imbricate pattern on the stem. Each leaf is split into two overlapping lobes: the upper lobe is reddish-brown or green, carries out photosynthesis, and often hosts symbiotic nitrogen-fixing blue-green algae (Anabaena); the lower lobe is submerged in water, membranous, and bears sporocarps. The growth period is short, and reproduction is fast. It is widely distributed across the provinces and regions south of the Yangtze River in China. It mostly inhabits small pools of clean water. It is an excellent biological fertilizer source, and cultivating it in paddy fields can play a good role in increasing rice yields. It can also be used as fish feed.

Azolla is the dominant floating plant in paddy fields and ponds, often growing mixed with duckweed, Salvinia natans, Wolffia, etc. In winter it is often the only floating plant, and it is a common weed in rice fields.

Morphological Characteristics

A small floating aquatic plant growing in paddy fields or ponds. The plant is triangular in shape, green when young, grows rapidly, and often forms a continuous sheet on the water surface. In autumn and winter, its leaves contain a lot of anthocyanins, and the colony presents a red color, hence the name Azolla. The individual is very small, about 1cm in diameter, triangular, rhombic, or roughly circular. The rhizome is slender and weak, horizontally lying, pinnately branched, with fibrous roots hanging down into the water. The leaves are tiny like scales, fleshy, arranged in two rows on the stem, alternate; each leaf is deeply split into two lobes: the upper lobe is fleshy, floating on the water surface, green, turning red after autumn, and can carry out photosynthesis; the lower lobe is membranous, growing obliquely in the water, without pigments; the sporocarps grow in pairs on the submerged leaves at the base of the branches. Azolla often lives symbiotically with the blue-green alga Anabaena, which can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. Therefore, Azolla can serve as an excellent green manure for rice, and can also be used as feed for fish and livestock.

Azolla is also called "red apple" and "green apple". It is a fern, family Azollaceae. The plant body is small, triangular, floating on the water surface. Roots are clustered. Leaves are small, fleshy, arranged in two rows, green in spring, turning red after autumn, forming a spectacle of large water surfaces dyed red, very spectacular, hence the name Azolla. It reproduces very quickly, growing in paddy fields or lakes and marshes, and is commonly distributed in the southeast and southwest of China. The whole plant can be used as feed for fish and livestock, and can also be used medicinally. It often lives symbiotically with nitrogen-fixing Anabaena, and is an excellent green manure.


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