Alisma triviale

Northern water plantain

Family: Alismataceae · Type: perennial · Native

Northern water plantain is a native perennial found in California's Central Valley and Coastal Ranges in pond habitats at elevations below 1,600 meters. Flowering from spring to fall, this plant produces white flowers with petals that appear slightly cut, arranged in an inflorescence taller than its leaves. Growing with erect stems and long, broad leaves, it reaches up to 45 centimeters tall with leaf blades 5.5 to 15 centimeters long and 1.5 to 10 centimeters wide. Its leaves are distinctively lanceolate to ovate with a truncate or slightly lobed base, emerging directly from the water. The fruit develops with thick, opaque lateral walls, characteristic of this aquatic species.

Habitat: Ponds

Bloom period: Spring-fall

Elevation: < 1600 m

Bioregions: CA-FP

California counties: Lake, Siskiyou, Ventura, Santa Clara, Plumas, Mono, Mariposa, Sonoma, Napa, Lassen, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Tuolumne, Kern, Mendocino, Modoc, Placer, Los Angeles, Contra Costa, Fresno, Colusa, San Bernardino, Shasta, Butte, Santa Barbara, San Diego, El Dorado, Nevada, Marin, Alameda, Monterey, Solano, Tehama, Yuba, Humboldt, Yolo, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Merced, Santa Cruz, Tulare

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.