Myriophyllum verticillatum
Whorled water-milfoil, Whorled Water-Milfoil
Family: Haloragaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Whorled water-milfoil is a California native perennial found in northern Coast Ranges, northern and central Sierra Nevada, and Great Basin regions in lakes and marshes at elevations up to 2,072 meters. Flowering from July to September, this aquatic plant produces small, delicate flowers arranged in emergent spikes 5 to 12 centimeters long. Growing with dark green to nearly black stems over 1 meter tall, it develops distinctive winter buds shaped like clubs at the ends of non-flowering branches. Its submersed leaves are intricately divided, with 18 to 34 fine linear segments less than 10 millimeters long, creating a feathery underwater appearance. The plant forms distinctive monoecious structures, with male and female flowers on the same plant.
Habitat: Lakes, marshes
Bloom period: Jul-Sep
Elevation: < 2072 m
Bioregions: NCo, n&s SNH, GB
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.