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Re: Isoetes spp.
As Ive mentioned previously, Isoetes are rather unusual plants. They are
capable of absorbing much of their CO2 from the sediment ... this is one
plant that does NOT require elevated CO2 levels in the water but rather
in the sediment. They are also capable of fixing CO2 24 hours a day and
efficiently refixing respired CO2. At night they do this by attaching the
CO2 to organic acids (called malic acid) and then reducing the CO2 to
sugars in the daytime when light energy is available.
The are not flowering plants but a type of fern with both megaspores and
micropspores. The sporangia can be found at the base of mature leaves and
if the two types of spores are mixed together you can produce hundreds of
tiny new plants.
They usually grow in water that is extremely low in DIC.
dave.