OregonFlora: Elatine chilensis

	Elatine chilensis
	Chilean waterwort
Habit	Plants 0.5–4 cm.
Stems	green to reddish green; internodes 2–7 mm.
Leaves	blades oblong to oblanceolate, 2–6 mm; petioles 0.4–1.2 mm.
Inflorescences	peduncles straight; < 1.5 mm.
Flowers	0.1–0.5 mm; sepals 3, sometimes 1 smaller; petals 3; stamens 3; carpels 3.
Fruits	compressed globose to globose, 3-locular.
Seeds	18–36, slightly curved to nearly straight; ~0.5 mm; surface pits 16–25 per row; length 3–5 × their width.

	Elatine chilensis
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Emergent form on mudflats near lakes and reservoirs, submersed form in shallow lake waters. Flowering Apr–Sep. 0–2600 m. BR, ECas, Lava, WV. CA, NV, WA; western North America; South America. Native. Elatine chilensis has an amphitropical disjunction in its distribution between southern South America and western North America. The exact cause of disjunction remains unclear, although birds might be responsible for dispersing the minute seeds of this species between the two regions (Carlquist 1983).
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 614 Hamid Razifard, Gordon Tucker, Donald Les
Sibling taxa	E. brachysperma, E. californica, E. rubella
Synonyms	Elatine americana, Elatine triandra
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 chilensis

Chilean waterwort

Habit

Plants 0.5–4 cm.

Stems

green to reddish green;

internodes 2–7 mm.

Leaves

blades oblong to oblanceolate, 2–6 mm;

petioles 0.4–1.2 mm.

Inflorescences

peduncles straight; < 1.5 mm.

Flowers

0.1–0.5 mm;

sepals 3, sometimes 1 smaller;

petals 3;

stamens 3;

carpels 3.

Fruits

compressed globose to globose, 3-locular.

Seeds

18–36, slightly curved to nearly straight; ~0.5 mm;

surface pits 16–25 per row; length 3–5 × their width.

Elatine chilensis

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Emergent form on mudflats near lakes and reservoirs, submersed form in shallow lake waters. Flowering Apr–Sep. 0–2600 m. BR, ECas, Lava, WV. CA, NV, WA; western North America; South America. Native.

Elatine chilensis has an amphitropical disjunction in its distribution between southern South America and western North America. The exact cause of disjunction remains unclear, although birds might be responsible for dispersing the minute seeds of this species between the two regions (Carlquist 1983).

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 614
Hamid Razifard, Gordon Tucker, Donald Les

Sibling taxa

E. brachysperma, E. californica, E. rubella

Synonyms

Elatine americana, Elatine triandra

Web links