kumbhika :

Floating plant Photograph by: Love Krittaya

Taxonomical Classification

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
Subkingdom: Streptophyta
Superdivision: Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Family: Araceae
Genus: Pistia
Species: Pistia stratiotes

Allied species:

Kodda-Pail Adans.

Zala Lour.

Apiospermum Klotzsch

Limnonesis Klotzsch

Zala asiatica Lour.

VERNACULAR NAMES

Sanskrit: Akashamuli, Ashakumbhi ,jalakumbhi
English: water lettuce, tropical duck-weed, Nile cabbage;
Hindi: Jalkimbhi
Urdu: جلکمبھی Jalakumbhi
Telugu: Akasatamara, Antara tamara
Bengali: Takapana, Topa pana
Marathi: Gondala, Jalamandvi, Prasni
Oriya: Borajhanji
Gujarathi: Jalashamkhala •
Tamil: Akasatamari, Agasatamarai, Akayat-tamarai
Malayalam: Kodda-pail
Kannada: Anthara gange •
Arabic: بستيا
Spanish: Lechuguilla de agua, Lechuguita de agua, Repollo de
Assamese: Borpuni
Japanese: ボタンウキクサ
Chinese: Shuo he lian, Shuo fu ping, Tian fu ping, Da piao.
French: Laitue deau, Pistie
German: Muschelblume, Wassersalat
Nepal: Kumbhika
Sinhalese: Diyaparadel,diyagova
Tulu: ಅಂತರಗಂಗೆ antaragange

Varities:

There are a couple different varieties of water lettuce that water gardeners may be interested in. The two most common are the Ruffled Water Lettuce and Jurassic Water Lettuce.

A. Ruffles

has more wavy leaves and doesnt grow as large as the other varieties. It is perfect for small container ponds. Jurassic Lettuce is a large form that can grow to be the size of a dinner plate. It doesnt seem to grow as fast as the common variety.

B. Splash

is a variegated form that stays smaller. It is still very hard to find