Callitriche trochlearis

Effluent water starwort

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Effluent water starwort is a native perennial found in northwestern and central western California in aquatic habitats at elevations up to 500 meters. Flowering from March to June, this delicate plant produces small white flowers in submersed and floating environments. Growing with slender stems, it develops distinctive leaf types with submersed leaves lance-linear and floating leaves spoon-shaped. Its leaves display remarkable adaptability, changing shape depending on whether they are underwater, emerging, or on land. The tiny dark brown to black fruit is approximately 1 to 1.5 millimeters wide, with a shallow groove and a uniformly wide wing that transitions abruptly to the fruit wall.

Habitat: Becoming stranded or submersed < +- 6 dm

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < +- 500 m

Bioregions: NW, CW

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