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The Ottelia cordata belongs to Hydrocharitaceae (the Frogbit family). It is a perennial herb that is distributed from Hainan Island in southern China to the Indochina Peninsula. It mainly grows in ponds and waterways in wet tropical biomes. The leaves are dimorphic, with submerged leaves that are narrow elliptic to lanceolate, and floating leaves that are ovate to broadly ovate with a cordate base. The petiole is 30-120 cm long. It is dioecious, and white flowers bloom on the surface of the water around May. The male inflorescence has 10 to 30 male flowers, and the female inflorescence has one female flower. In Chinese, it is called "水菜花" (shui cai hua).
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