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ELATINACEAE

WATERWORT FAMILY

Gordon C. Tucker

Annual, perennial herb, in or near water; roots fibrous, from a taproot or not, generally from lower leaf axils as well
Stem generally soft
Leaves simple, opposite, ± 4-ranked; stipules scarious
Inflorescence: flowers axillary or terminal, solitary or clustered
Flowers small, inconspicuous, radial, bisexual; sepals and petals generally free, 3–5, equal in number; ovary spheric, styles 3–5, very short
Fruit: capsule, septicidal, ± spheric, ovoid, or depressed-ovoid, walls thin; chambers 2–5, each several–many-seeded
Seed very small; surface net-like or glossy
Genera in family: 2 genera, 50 species: ± worldwide
Reference: [Tucker 1986 J Arnold Arbor 67:471–483]