Hydrocharis

{{Short description|Genus of aquatic plants}}

{{Italic title}}

{{automatic taxobox

| name = Frogbit

| image = Hydrocharis.jpg

| image_caption = Hydrocharis morsus-ranae

| taxon = Hydrocharis

| authority = L.

| type_species = Hydrocharis morsus-ranae

| type_species_authority = L.

}}

Hydrocharis is a genus of aquatic plants in the family Hydrocharitaceae described as a genus by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[http://www.botanicus.org/page/359057 Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1036] in Latin{{Cite web|url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40028879|title=Tropicos {{!}} Name - !Hydrocharis L.|website=www.tropicos.org|access-date=2017-01-31}} It is widespread across much of Europe and Asia, plus a few scattered locations in Africa.{{Cite web|url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=308123|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|website=apps.kew.org|language=en|access-date=2017-01-31|archive-date=2020-08-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803185857/https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=308123|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/index1.php?scientific-name=hydrocharis+morsus-ranae|title=Hydrocharis morsus-ranae [Morso di rana]|website=luirig.altervista.org|language=it|access-date=2017-01-31}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=115986|title=Hydrocharis in Flora of China @ efloras.org|website=www.efloras.org|access-date=2017-01-31}} It is also reportedly naturalized in parts of North America.{{Cite web|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=115986|title=Hydrocharis in Flora of North America @ efloras.org|website=www.efloras.org|access-date=2017-01-31}}Cook, C. D. K. and R. Lüönd. 1982. A revision of the genus Hydrocharis (Hydrocharitaceae). Aquatic Botany 14: 177--204.Roberts, M. L., R. L. Stuckey, and R. S. Mitchell. 1981. Hydrocharis morsus-ranae (Hydrocharitaceae) new to the United States. Rhodora 83: 147--148.

The best known species is Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, commonly called common frogbit or European frog's-bit, and occasionally water-poppy. The name "American frogbit" refers to another aquatic plant, Limnobium spongia.

Three species are recognised:

• Hydrocharis chevalieri (De Wild.) Dandy – Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Hydrocharis dubia (Blume) Backer – Primorsky Krai, China, Japan, Korea, Indian subcontinent, SE Asia, New Guinea
• Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L. – Europe, Siberia, North Africa, Turkey, Caucasus, Kazakhstan