Elatine brachysperma

Short seed waterwort

Family: Elatinaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Short seed waterwort is a California native perennial found in muddy shores and shallow pools at elevations of 50 to 500 meters. Flowering from April to September, this delicate plant produces tiny white to pale pink flowers in single blooms at each leaf node. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 1 to 5 centimeters tall, occasionally reaching 12 centimeters, it forms low-growing patches in wet habitats. Its leaves are narrow-oblong to ovate with short petioles that are nearly indistinguishable from the blade. The fruit contains three chambers, with seeds that are wide-oblong and slightly curved, featuring 10 to 15 distinctive pits in each row.

Habitat: Muddy shores, shallow pools

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: 50-500 m

Bioregions: CA

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