Najas minor
brittle waternymph
profusely branched near apex distally, 11–120 cm × 0.2–1 mm;
internodes 0.5–5.8 cm, without prickles abaxially.
usually recurved with age, 0.5–3.4 cm, stiff in age;
sheath 1–3 mm wide, apex truncate to auriculate;
blade 0.1–1.2 mm wide, margins conspicuously serrulate, teeth 7–15 per side, apex acute, with 1–2 teeth, teeth multicellular;
midvein without prickles abaxially.
1–2 per axil, staminate and pistillate on same plant.
in distal axils, 1.9–2.2 mm;
involucre 2-lobed, beaks 0.4–2.1 mm;
anther 1-loculed, 0.3 mm.
Najas minor
Pistillate flowers in distal to proximal axils, 2.2 mm; styles 1–1.2 mm; stigmas 2-lobed. Seeds slightly recurved, purplish, fusiform, 1.5–3 × 0.5–0.7 mm, apex with style situated at center; testa dull, 3 cell layers thick, pitted; aeroleareoles regularly arranged in ca. 15 longitudinal rows, ladderlike, 4-angled, broader than long, end walls not raised. 2n = 24.
Najas minor, with its mature leaves recurved and with its aeroleareoles broader than long and arranged in longitudinal rows like the rungs of a ladder, is one of the more distinctive species of Najas. Young sterile individuals resemble N. gracillima, however.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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