Burke: Callitriche palustris

	Callitriche palustris
	spring water-starwort, vernal water-starwort
Habit	Small aquatic herbs, the stems 5-20 cm. long, submerged or partially floating; leaf bases joined by small, winged ridges.
Leaves	Submerged leaves linear, 5-20 mm. long, thin, 1-nerved, with a slight notch at the tip; floating and emergent leaves broadly spatulate, up to 4 mm. broad, 3-nerved.
Flowers	Flowers imperfect, sessile in the leaf axils, each consisting of a single pistil or 1 stamen or both; styles 2, distinct, 1-2.5 mm. long, deciduous; floral bracts present.
Fruits	Carpels 2, oblong-obovate, about 1 mm. long and 0.7 mm. broad, with pit-like markings in vertical lines.

	Callitriche palustris
Flowering time	June-August
Habitat	Sloughs and slow-moving fresh water.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	C. brutia, C. hermaphroditica, C. heterophylla, C. marginata, C. stagnalis
Web links	Local floras: BC, 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

Callitriche palustris

spring water-starwort, vernal water-starwort

Habit

Small aquatic herbs, the stems 5-20 cm. long, submerged or partially floating; leaf bases joined by small, winged ridges.

Leaves

Submerged leaves linear, 5-20 mm. long, thin, 1-nerved, with a slight notch at the tip; floating and emergent leaves broadly spatulate, up to 4 mm. broad, 3-nerved.

Flowers

Flowers imperfect, sessile in the leaf axils, each consisting of a single pistil or 1 stamen or both;

styles 2, distinct, 1-2.5 mm. long, deciduous;

floral bracts present.

Fruits

Carpels 2, oblong-obovate, about 1 mm. long and 0.7 mm. broad, with pit-like markings in vertical lines.