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small waterwort, élatine naine

Habit Herbs, submersed or emersed on wet substrates, 0.2–3(–10) cm.
Stems

erect or ascending, usually unbranched, sometimes 1–2 branched.

Leaves

green;

stipules lanceolate, 0.2 mm, margins entire, apex rounded;

petiole 0–1 mm;

blade elliptic to oblanceolate or spatulate, 0.3–5(–11) × 0.7–1.8(–4) mm, base rounded to truncate, apex obtuse-acute.

Pedicels

0–0.2 mm, erect.

Flowers

cleistogamous when submersed;

sepals 2, equal, ovate to oblong, 0.5 × 0.3 mm;

petals 2, reddish, long-elliptic, elliptic, or ovate, 1–1.5 × 0.5 mm;

stamens 2;

styles 2.

Capsules

oblong-ovoid, 2-locular, 0.9–1.5 mm diam.

Seeds

4–9 per locule, thickly cylindric to barrel-shaped, straight, 0.4–0.5(–0.7) × 0.2(–0.3) mm;

pits elliptic, length 1.2–1.6 times width, in 8–9 rows, (11–)15–20 per row.

Elatine minima

Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Shores (sometimes intertidal) or in water to 2 m deep, sandy substrates mixed with organic debris, abandoned sunfish nests.
Elevation 0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; DE; IL; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NC; NH; NJ; NY; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; NB; NL; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; SPM
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 353.
Parent taxa Elatinaceae > Elatine
Sibling taxa
E. ambigua, E. americana, E. brachysperma, E. californica, E. chilensis, E. heterandra, E. ojibwayensis, E. rubella, E. triandra
Synonyms Crypta minima
Name authority (Nuttall) Fischer & C. A. Meyer: Linnaea 10: 73. (1835)
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