Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
30. Lythraceae, the Loosestrife Family
3. Rotala L. -- Toothcup1. Rotala ramosior (L.) Koehne
Small, glabrous, simple to freely branched annual to 4 dm tall, the branches spreading to ascending. Leaves opposite, linear to oblong or oblanceolate, 1-5 cm long, 2-12 mm wide, attenuate to a subpetiolate base, not clasping. Flowers solitary, sessile in the axils, 4(-6)-merous. Calyx tube campanulate to subglobose, 2.5-5 mm long, not strongly nerved, the broad lobes alternating with thickened appendages of about equal length; petals 4(-6), white to pink, barely exceeding the calyx; stamens 4(-6), included or barely exserted; style none or short, not exserted, stigma capitate. Capsule globose, 2- to 4-locular, included by the calyx, minutely cross-striate on the outer wall; seeds ovoid, 1 mm or less long. Jul--Oct. Muddy or sandy shores, low spots in fields and other temporarily flooded places; uncommon, e SD, e and c NE; (MA to MN and SD, s to FL and TX; also the Pacific Coast states and s into S.Amer. and Carribean islands).
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Return to Family -- Lythraceae - The Loosestrife Family
