Flora of North America species comparison

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Elatine chilensis

Chilean waterwort
Habit Herbs, emergent on wet substrates, 0.5–10 cm.
Stems

ascending or prostrate, branched.
Leaves

usually green, sometimes reddish green;

stipules triangular, 0.5–0.6 mm, margins entire, apex acute;

petiole 1–3 mm;

blade obovate to broadly spatulate, 3–4(–8) × 0.5–2.5 mm, base cuneate to rounded, apex obtuse to slightly emarginate.
Pedicels

absent.
Flowers

sepals 2–3, if 2, equal, if 3, 1 smaller, oblong, 0.5 × 0.3 mm;

petals 3, pinkish white to reddish, elliptic to ovate, 1–1.5 × 0.5 mm;

stamens 3;

styles 3.
Capsules

depressed-ovoid, 3-locular, 1.5–2 mm diam.
Seeds

23–33 per locule, ellipsoid, straight or curved to 20°, 0.4–0.5 × 0.1–0.2 mm;

pits angular-hexagonal, length 3–5 times width, in 6 rows, 16–25(–35) per row.

Elatine chilensis
Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Muddy shores (fresh or tidal), shallow vernal pools, ditches, rice fields.
Elevation 0–2800 m. (0–9200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; NV; OR; WA; South America
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The distribution of Elatine chilensis has an amphitropical disjunction between western North America and southern South America. The minute seeds of E. chilensis probably have been dispersed between the two regions by birds (S. Carlquist 1983).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 352.
Parent taxa Elatinaceae > Elatine
Sibling taxa
E. ambigua, E. americana, E. brachysperma, E. californica, E. heterandra, E. minima, E. ojibwayensis, E. rubella, E. triandra
Synonyms E. gracilis
Name authority Gay: Fl. Chil. 1: 286. (1846)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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