Isoetes bolanderi

Bolander's quillwort

Family: Isoetaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Bolander's quillwort is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, San Bernardino Mountains, and Warner Mountains in persistent lakes and pools at elevations above 1,300 meters. This unique aquatic plant grows entirely underwater with bright green, rigid leaves less than 20 centimeters long that are abruptly narrowed at the tip, with white to light brown leaf bases. Growing as a delicate underwater perennial, it produces distinctive sporangia with membranes covering less than 30% of the surface and complex spore structures. Its leaves are deciduous and have a distinctive bright green coloration, with male spores measuring 0.02 to 0.03 millimeters and female spores ranging from 0.3 to 0.5 millimeters with intricate ridged and tubercled surfaces. The plant reproduces through these specialized spores, which appear brown when massed together.

Habitat: Persistent lakes, pools

Elevation: > 1300 m (250 m in Marin Co.)

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, SnFrB, SnBr, Wrn

California counties: Tuolumne, Siskiyou, San Bernardino, Sierra, Fresno, Inyo, Tulare, Alpine, Butte, Madera, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, El Dorado, Trinity, Lake, Lassen, Amador, Humboldt, Marin, Del Norte

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