Salvinia (salvinia)

[NL. (Michel i, 1729), named after Antonio Maria Salvini, a Greek profe or at Florence.] A genus of heterosporous vascular cryptogamous plants, typical of the order Salviniaceæ. They are minute fugacious annuals, with slender floating stems, which give off short petioled or se ile fronds on the upper side, and short branches that bear the conceptacles and much-branched feathered root-fibers on the under side. The fronds are small, simple, with a distinct midrib that runs from the base to the apex. Thirteen species, widely distributed over the warm regions of the globe, have been described. Salviniaceæ (sal-vin-i-a'sē-ē), n. pl. [NL. (Bartling, 1830),