Ludwigia polycarpa |
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false loosestrife, many-fruit water-primrose, manyfruit primrose-willow |
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Habit | Herbs slender, with well-developed aerenchyma on submerged stems, forming stolons 2.5–15(–22) cm, 1–2.3 mm thick, well branched. |
Stems | erect or ascending, slightly ridged, well branched, (10–)25–60(–85) cm, glabrate with raised ± strigillose lines decurrent from leaf axils. |
Leaves | alternate; stipules narrowly to broadly ovate, 0.1–0.4 × 0.1–0.3 mm; stolons: leaves often clustered near apex of stolon, petiole 0–0.5 cm, blade narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate, 0.8–2(–3.2) × 0.2–0.8(–1.2) cm, base attenuate, margins entire or remotely denticulate, apex acute, surfaces glabrous; stems: petiole winged, 0.1–1 cm, blade very narrowly oblong-elliptic, 3.5–11 × 0.4–1(–1.7) cm, base very narrowly cuneate or long-attenuate, margins entire and densely, minutely papillose-serrulate with obscure hydathodal glands, apex narrowly acute or acuminate, surfaces glabrous; bracts not much reduced. |
Inflorescences | elongated, leafy spikes, flowers solitary in leaf axils, sometimes borne almost to base of stems; bracteoles attached 0.5–2.5(–3) mm distal to base of ovary, linear-lanceolate, 3.5–6.5(–8) × 0. |
Flowers | sepals spreading horizontally with reflexed tips, pale green, narrowly ovate-deltate, 2.5–4.5 × 1.5–3.2 mm, margins entire, minutely papillose-serrulate, apex elongate-acuminate, surfaces glabrous; petals 0; filaments yellowish green, 0.7–1.5 mm, base dilated, anthers 0.5–0.9 × 0.5–0.7 mm; pollen shed in tetrads; ovary oblong, barely 4-angled, 3–4.5 × 2–3.5 mm; nectary disc elevated 0.5–0.8 mm on ovary apex, yellowish green, 1.8–3 mm diam., 4-lobed, glabrous; style yellowish green, 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous, stigma broadly clavate to subglobose, 0.4–0.8 × 0.3–0.6 mm, usually 4-lobed, not exserted beyond anthers. |
Capsules | oblong-obovoid, obscurely 4-angled, 4–7 × 2.5–5 mm, hard-walled, irregularly dehiscent, pedicel 0.1–0.3 mm. |
Seeds | light brown, narrowly oblong with curved ends, 0.5–0.6 × 0.2–0.3 mm, surface cells elongate parallel to seed length. |
4 | –1(–1.3) mm, with a swollen base, margins minutely papillose-serrulate. |
2n | = 32. |
Ludwigia polycarpa |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Sep. |
Habitat | Ditches, moist prairies, alluvial ground of ponds, lakes, and rivers, marshes, swales, edges of lagoons, low fallow fields. |
Elevation | 100–300 m. (300–1000 ft.) |
Distribution |
CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MI; MN; MO; NE; OH; PA; VA; WI; WV; ON
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Discussion | Ludwigia polycarpa, unlike all other species in sect. Isnardia, is distributed primarily in the central Midwest and Great Lakes regions, with one highly disjunct population recorded from Kootenai County, Idaho, which is presumably introduced. This species has also been found scattered as far east as Connecticut and Massachusetts, and reports of it from Arkansas, Maine, Tennessee, and Vermont cannot be confirmed. As indicated by C. I. Peng (1989), a report of this species from Alabama involved a natural hybrid between L. glandulosa and L. pilosa. The basal stolons formed by Ludwigia polycarpa tend to be shorter, more condensed, and more branched than those found in other species, and may be a morphological adaptation to perennial survival in the colder areas in which it grows. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 10. |
Parent taxa | Onagraceae > subfam. Ludwigioideae > Ludwigia > sect. Isnardia |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Isnardia polycarpa |
Name authority | Short & R. Peter: Transylvania J. Med. Assoc. Sci. 8: 581. (1835) |
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