Subularia aquatica
Subularia aquatica is an aquatic plant in the family Brassicaceae which is known by the common name water awlwort. This is a small herb with awl-like leaves (generally cylindrical but tapering to a sharp point), and growing from a corm above a network of bright white roots. Tiny flowers, each only about a millimeter long, are borne on stalks. Flowers which rise above the surface of the water open, while those that remain submersed stay closed and self-pollinate. The seeds come inside tiny inflated pods. There are two varieties of water awlwort; S. a. var. aquatica is native to Eurasia and S. a. var. americana is native to northern North America. There may also be a Mexican subspecies. This plant grows in ponds, marshes, peat bogs, and other shallow, cold water bodies, often in gravel or sand.
Subularia aquatica | |
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Illustration of Subularia aquatica | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Brassicales |
Family: | Brassicaceae |
Genus: | Subularia |
Species: | S. aquatica |
Binomial name | |
Subularia aquatica | |
Distribution
Native
- Palearctic:
- Siberia: West Siberia
- Soviet Far East: Kamchatka Oblast
- Northern Europe: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Kaliningrad, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom
- Middle Europe: Belgium, Germany
- East Europe: Belarus, Central Russia, Central Black Earth, Northern Russia, North Caucasus, Northwestern Russia, Volga, Urals, Volga-Vyatka
- Southeastern Europe: Bulgaria
- Southwestern Europe: France, Spain
- Nearctic:
- Subarctic America: Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory, Greenland, Alaska
- Eastern Canada: Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec
- Western Canada: British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
- Northeastern United States: Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont
- North-Central United States: Minnesota
- Northwestern United States: Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming
- Southwestern United States: California, Utah