SUMMARY 



Lavender hyssop is considered native to eastern Montana, but voucher specimens are not 

 known to support this. The species is not being added to the state list at this time until out-of- 

 state herbaria are checked. . 



Elatine americana (Pursh) Am. 



AMERICAN WATERWORT 



Elatinaceae 



PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



L FEDERAL STATUS 



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



b. U.S. FOREST SERVICE: None. 



2. STATE: G4 SU (status undetermined). Not recommended for addition to the 



state list at tliis time. 



DESCRIPTION 



1. GENERAL NONTECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: American waterwort is an 

 annual that forms small mats of prostrate stems 2-4 cm (0.8-1.6 in.) long 

 (Figure 16; Appendix E-1 1). The opposite, narrowly elliptic leaves have entire 

 margins and rounded tips and are less than 10 mm long. Foliage is glabrous. 

 Inconspicuous flowers are solitary in the leaf axils. Each flower has 3 minute, 

 separate petals, 3 sepals, and 3 stamens. The fruit is a many-seeded, globose 

 capsule. The strongly cur\'ed, sausage-shaped seeds are pointed at one end but 

 rounded on the other and have ca. 10 longitudinal rows of 20-30 pits on their 

 surfaces. 



2. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Plants are matted or with some branches 

 ascending and 2-4 cm (0.8-1.6 in.) long; leaves are spathulate to obovate, under 

 10 mm (0.4 in.) long, the tips rounded and not at all emarginate; sepals and 

 petals 3, seeds somewhat curved, the pits mostly 18-27 in each of about 10 

 longitudinal rows, capsules 2-3 celled (Hitchcock et al. 1984). 



3. LOCAL FIELD CHARACTERS: Elatine americana has a rounded leaf tip 

 compared to E. thandra leaves that are notched at the tip. Seeds of E. 

 americana are only slightly curved compared to E. californica. Both of these 



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