OregonFlora: Elatine californica

	Elatine californica
	California waterwort
Habit	Plants 1.5–7 cm.
Stems	light green to green (reddish green); internodes 2–12 mm.
Leaves	blades spatulate or elliptic, 3–12 mm; petioles 0.5–6 mm.
Inflorescences	peduncles recurved, usually > 1.5 mm.
Flowers	(0.1)1.5–4 mm; sepals 4, sometimes 1 smaller; petals 4; stamens 8; carpels 4.
Fruits	disk-shaped to compressed globose, 4-locular.
Seeds	16–24, highly curved to nearly circular, 0.5–0.7 mm; surface pits 20–27 per row; length 1.2–2 × their width.

	Elatine californica
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	In or near puddles, ponds, reservoirs, lakes, and marshes. Flowering Mar–Aug. 50–1600 m. Col, ECas. CA, ID, NV, WA; northeast to MT, southeast to NM, south to Mexico. Native. Elatine californica can be distinguished from all other Elatine species in the Unites States by its four-merous flower parts and nearly circular seeds. Both morphological and molecular analyses (Razifard et al. 2017) support a close affinity between E. californica and E. hydropiper, which occurs in Central Asia, Europe, and North Africa.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 613 Hamid Razifard, Gordon Tucker, Donald Les
Sibling taxa	E. brachysperma, E. chilensis, E. rubella
Web links	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Elatine californica

California waterwort

Habit

Plants 1.5–7 cm.

Stems

light green to green (reddish green);

internodes 2–12 mm.

Leaves

blades spatulate or elliptic, 3–12 mm;

petioles 0.5–6 mm.

Inflorescences

peduncles recurved, usually > 1.5 mm.

Flowers

(0.1)1.5–4 mm;

sepals 4, sometimes 1 smaller;

petals 4;

stamens 8;

carpels 4.

Fruits

disk-shaped to compressed globose, 4-locular.

Seeds

16–24, highly curved to nearly circular, 0.5–0.7 mm;

surface pits 20–27 per row; length 1.2–2 × their width.

Elatine californica

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

In or near puddles, ponds, reservoirs, lakes, and marshes. Flowering Mar–Aug. 50–1600 m. Col, ECas. CA, ID, NV, WA; northeast to MT, southeast to NM, south to Mexico. Native.

Elatine californica can be distinguished from all other Elatine species in the Unites States by its four-merous flower parts and nearly circular seeds. Both morphological and molecular analyses (Razifard et al. 2017) support a close affinity between E. californica and E. hydropiper, which occurs in Central Asia, Europe, and North Africa.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 613
Hamid Razifard, Gordon Tucker, Donald Les

Sibling taxa

E. brachysperma, E. chilensis, E. rubella

Web links