Cabomba

Genus of aquatic plants

Automatic taxobox
|image = Cabomba aquatica. png
|image caption = Cabomba aquatica (from Lindley 1853)
|taxon = Cabomba
|authority = Aubl. |subdivision ranks = Species
|subdivision = See text
|type species = Cabomba aquatica Aublet
|synonyms =
Nectris Schreb. Villarsia Neck. |synonyms ref =
Cabomba aquatica Aubl. (fanwort)
Cabomba caroliniana A. Gray (green cabomba)
Cabomba furcata Schult. & Schult. f. (red cabomba)
Cabomba haynesii lt=Wiersema
Cabomba palaeformis Fassett
Cabomba schwartzii Rataj

The perianth of Cabomba is either trimerous (having members in each whorl in groups of three) or dimerous (in groups of two) with white, oval shaped petals, and is usually about across when fully developed. The petals are unlike the sepals in that the former have two yellow ear shaped nectaries at the base. Petals may also have purplish edges. Flowers are protogynous, having primarily female sexual structures on the first day of appearance and then switching to male on the second and subsequent days. Flowers emerge and are designed to be pollinated above the waterline. Principal pollinators are flies and other small flying insects.

Cabomba is frequently planted in aquaria, as an attractive leaved water plant that is fast growing (up to per day). Green cabomba (C. caroliniana) is the most common, and the easiest aquarium subject. By contrast, red cabomba (C. furcata) is considered to be one of the hardest plants to care for in the aquarium.

Use in the aquarium trade has led to some species being introduced to other parts of the world, such as Australia, where Cabomba caroliniana it is a nationally declared weed. Having arrived in 1967, it spread rapidly in waterways and out competed native plants, threatening water supplies, especially along the eastern side of the continent. In Australia, the cabomba weevil (Hydrotimetes natans) is introduced to waterways as a means of biological control of Cabomba caroliniana.