23 



D 



AMERICAN WATERWORT 

 ( Elatine americana ) 



A. 



CLASSIFICATION 



1. FAMILY: Elatinaceae (Waterwort Family) 



2. GENUS: Elatine (L. elatin-) means fir-like; possibly 

 referring to the orientation of leaves along the stem or the 

 semblance to a fir seedling. 



3. SPECIES: The species epithet indicates that it is a New 

 World species. It is not recognized as a part of the 

 Montana flora by Dorn (1984) , and is said to be "Scarcely 

 distinguishable from E. triandra " and possibly not within 

 the Pacific Northwest region (Hitchcock et al . 1984). 



PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



1. 



FEDERAL STATUS 



a. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: none 



b. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: none 



2. STATE: The original state rank of SI (critically imperiled) 

 was based on four records. They span large areas of the 

 state, suggesting that it may be overlooked. 



DESCRIPTION 



1. GENERAL NONTECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: American waterwort is a 

 small submerged aquatic plant with branches 2-4 cm (.8-1.6 

 in) long, forming mats or ascending. Its capsules are 2-3 

 celled, it has 3 stamens, petals and sepals. Its seeds are 

 pitted in reticulate rows. The leaves are obovate, often 

 rounded at the tip. 



Figure 6. American waterwort ( Elatine americana ) illustration 



I 



Elatine americana 



