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Name derivation:

azo – ‘to dry’ + ollyo ‘to kill’ – dies when dehydrated.

Common name ‘mosquito fern’.

Classification:

Azolla Lamarck.

Order Filicales (ferns);  Family Hydropterideae

Morphology:

Similar genera:

Habitat:

Freshwater.  Tropical to temperate lakes and streams.  Epineustonic (floating on water surface).

Considered to be invasive in Europe.

References:

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plnov98.htm (endobiont Anabaena azollae; disporous gametophyte)