Isoetes

Isoetes Temporal range: Jurassic–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Isoetes tegetiformans with U.S. penny for scale
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Lycophytes
Class:	Lycopodiopsida
Order:	Isoetales
Family:	Isoetaceae
Genus:	Isoetes L.
Species
See text

Isoetes, commonly known as the quillworts, is a genus of lycopod. It is the only living genus in the family Isoetaceae and order Isoetales. There are currently 192 recognized species,^[1] with a cosmopolitan distribution mostly in aquatic habitats but with the individual species often scarce to rare. Some botanists split the genus, separating two South American species into the genus Stylites, although molecular data place these species among other species of Isoetes, so that Stylites does not warrant taxonomic recognition.^[2] Species virtually identical to modern quillworts have existed since the Jurassic epoch,^[3] though the timing of the origin of modern Isoetes is subject to considerable uncertainty.^[4]

The name of the genus may also be spelled Isoëtes. The diaeresis (two dots over the e) indicates that the o and the e are to be pronounced in two distinct syllables. Including this in print is optional; either spelling (Isoetes or Isoëtes) is correct.^[5]