Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
16. Elatinaceae, the Waterwort Family
2. Elatine L. -- Waterwort1. Elatine triandra Schkuhr
Plant glabrous, small, matted, rather fleshy, densely branched from the base, the branches sprawling or floating, often rooting at the nodes, 2-15 cm long. Leaves opposite, sessile, obovate to oblanceolate, 3-12 mm long, 1-3 mm wide, mostly truncate or emarginate at the tip, entire; stipules minute. Flowers sessile and solitary in the leaf axils, 1.5-2 mm across, (2)3-merous; ovary 3-celled. Capsule globose, 1-1.5 mm in diameter, membranous; seeds many, golden-yellow, oblong, ca. 0.5 mm long, ridged and obscurely pitted in rows. Jul--Sep. Mud flats or in shallow water of lakes and ponds; rare and scattered; (WI to Alta. and WA, s to TX, n Mex. and CA; also Eurasia).
References:
Fassett, N. C. 1939. Elatine and other aquatics. Rhodora 41:367-377. Fernald, M. L. 1917. Elatine in east North America. Rhodora 19:10-15.
 Elantine triandra |
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