Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Annual or facultatively perennial aquatic herb rooted in mud.

Stems: Vegetative stems submersed with elongate internodes, or emersed and procumbent, flowering stems 1–9 cm, distal internode 0.5–4 cm.

Roots: Fibrous root system.

Leaves: Leaves simple. Sessile leaves forming a basal rosette; petiolate leaves floating or emersed. Blades dimorphic, sessile Blades linear to oblanceolate; petiolate blades reniform, length equal to or less than width. Margins entire. Petioles 2–13 cm. Stipules present on petiolate leaves, 1–5 cm.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences spicate, 2–8–flowered, elongating in 1 day, usually shorter than spathes, terminal flower sometimes extending beyond spathe apex; spathes 0.8–5.5 cm, glabrous; peduncle 0.5–4.2 cm, glabrous. Flowers bisexual (perfect), opening ca. 3 hours after sunrise, wilting by early afternoon. Perianth white, salverform, tube 5–10 mm, limbs zygomorphic, lobes narrowly elliptic, 3–6.5 mm, distal central lobe with yellow or green region at base, sometimes with distal brown spot. Stamens unequal, lateral ones 0.9–2.2 mm long; filaments linear, pubescent with white multicellular hairs toward apex; central stamen 2.2–4.7 mm; filament sparsely pubescent with multicellular hairs. Ovary superior; styles pubescent with multicellular hairs.

Fruit: Capsules elongate. Seeds 8–14–winged; 0.5–0.9 × 0.3–0.5 mm.

Ploidy: 2n = 2n = 48

Habitat:

Elevation Range: