Nauka Przyroda Technologie

The study aimed at finding new morphological parameters of Batrachium species that could be used for taxonomic identification. Species belonging to this genus are very difficult to identify whether these plants are becoming increasingly important in connection with the implementation of new environmental legislation of the European Union. Batrachium species are used in biological monitoring according to the Water Framework Directive, as well as they indicate habitats protected according to the Habitats Directive. The undertaken research included field survey, as well as laboratory work. The study focused on: Batrachium circinatum (Sibth.) Fr., Batrachium peltatum Schrank, Batrachium penicillatum Dumort., Batrachium trichophyllum (Chaix) Bosch, and hybrid – Ranunculus × kelchoensis S.D. Webster. The undertaken studies proved that each of the selected 20 features of Batrachium petals indicated differences between species. It was confirmed that the petals length is significantly diversified between species as it was already reported in the literature. Moreover, the analysis of a number of additional parameters showed that also some of them can provide valuable support to identify species of this group of hydrophytes.