Aponogeton azureus is a species of plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 in the Aponogetonaceae

Aponogetonaceae

The Aponogetonaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Alismatales.In recent decades the family has had universal recognition by taxonomists. The APG system and APG II system treat it in the order Alismatales in the clade monocots...

 family. It is endemic to Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

. Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 is freshwater marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

es. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Overview

Aponogeton azureus is known only from the type locality. The species has been looked for since it was first collected in 1974, but has not been found again.) It is assessed as Data Deficient because it is taxonomically uncertain.

If A. azureus proves to be a valid species, it may be considered Critically Endangered as it is known only known from one pool in the Northwest of Namibia and pools in this area are known to be over-utilised and trampled by livestock.

Further reading

• Clarke, N.V. and Klaassen, E.S. 2001. Water Plants of Namibia An Identification Manual. Occasional Contributions 2, National Botanical Research Institute, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Craven, P. & Loots, S. 2004. Aponogeton azureus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved on 20 August 2007.