About Mayaca fluviatilis Aubl.
Mayaca fluviatilis Aubl. was first formally described by French botanist Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet, who originally named it La mayaque des rivieres after collecting it from a tributary of the Sinnamary river in Guyana. This species has soft, thin leaves arranged in a spiral pattern along white or pale green stems that commonly reach up to one meter in length. Its flowers grow on individual stalks that are 2 to 5 cm long, and each flower is approximately 1 cm in diameter. Like all other species in the genus Mayaca, the flowers of Mayaca fluviatilis are lateral, heterochlamydeous (meaning the perianth whorls have dissimilar sepals and petals), and isostemonous (meaning it has an equal number of stamens and petals). It is a submerged aquatic plant that can also grow in wet soil during dry seasons. When growing submerged, it bears a superficial resemblance to Hydrilla verticillata, an aquatic plant native to Sri Lanka.
