Ottelia alismoides

Duck lettuce

Family: Hydrocharitaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Duck lettuce is a naturalized perennial found in eastern Sacramento Valley, specifically Butte County, inhabiting ditches and rice fields at approximately 50 meters elevation. Flowering during summer to fall, this aquatic plant produces white to pale pink flowers with bright yellow anthers, creating a delicate waterside display. Growing with submersed and floating leaves 10 to 25 centimeters long, the plant displays distinctive leaf variations from elliptic underwater blades to broader ovate or heart-shaped leaves at the surface. Its leaves feature parallel, curved veins and can appear entire or slightly crisped, creating an intricate underwater and emergent profile. The plant's fruit is less than 4 centimeters long and characteristically beaked at the tip.

Habitat: Ditches, rice-fields

Bloom period: Summer-fall

Elevation: +- 50 m.

Bioregions: e ScV (Butte Co.)

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