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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Southern Naiad
Najas guadalupensis (Spreng.) Morong

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Naiad (Najadaceae)
Flowering: June-September
Field Marks: The nearly toothless leaves of this naiad are regularly spaced along the stem, rather than being crowded at the tip. The leaves do not taper to an elongated point, and the seeds are not shiny.
Habitat: Quiet or floating water in ponds, lakes, or streams.
Habit: Submerged aquatic annual.
Stems: Very slender, much branched, essentially toothless, frequently forming mats, and sometimes rooting from the nodes.
Leaves: Very slender, alternate to subopposite, equally spaced along the stem and not crowded at the tip of the stem, essentially toothed or with a few tiny spinulose teeth, up to 1 1/2 inches long, about 1/20 inch wide, pointed or rounded at the tip but not tapering to a long point.
Flowers: Minute, unisexual, but with both sexes on the same plant, borne in the axils of the leaves.
Sepals: 0.
Petals: 0, although a pair of transparent membranaceous structures surround the stamen.
Stamens: One, protruding from the two transparent structures that surround it.
Pistils: One, with or without a transparent sheath around it; stigmas 2-4.
Fruits: Narrow and tapering to each end, up to 1/6 inch long, not shiny, dark brown, covered by a network pattern of elongated markings.
Notes: Some plants have their stems and leaves encrusted with lime. The seeds are eaten by waterfowl.

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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/4/najaguad.htm
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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:25:18 EST
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