Najas guadalupensis subsp. guadalupensis

Common water-nymph, Common Water-Nymph

Family: Hydrocharitaceae · Type: annual · Native

Common water-nymph is a California native annual found in the North Coast Ranges, Central Valley, Central Western California, southern Coastal California, and desert regions in ponds and lakes at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering in July, this delicate aquatic plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers with distinctive leaf margins. Growing as a slender underwater plant with transparent stems, it forms dense underwater meadows in still water environments. Its narrow leaves have remarkably fine, closely spaced marginal teeth, with 50 to 100 tiny teeth along each leaf edge, giving the plant a finely serrated appearance. As a monoecious species, the plant produces both male and female reproductive structures within the same plant, with tiny seeds less than one millimeter wide.

Habitat: Ponds, lakes

Bloom period: Jul

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: NCoRO, GV, CW, SCo, D

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