TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

HIPPURIDACEAE

MARE'S-TAIL FAMILY

Elizabeth McClintock

Perennial from rhizome, emergent aquatic, glabrous
Stem ± erect, unbranched, rooting at nodes, hollow
Leaves simple, in whorls of generally 6–12, sessile, linear to elliptic, entire; stipules 0
Inflorescence: flowers solitary in upper axils, ± sessile
Flower inconspicuous, generally bisexual (or staminate below pistillate); calyx a minute rim at ovary top; petals 0; stamen 1, off-center on top of ovary; ovary inferior, chamber 1, style 1, off-center, ± = stamen, slender, generally in groove between anther sacs, ± entirely stigmatic
Fruit: achene or thin-walled drupe
Genera in family: 1 genus, 1 variable sp.: temp and cool regions. Wind-pollinated. Not closely related to Haloragaceae, to which the sp. is sometimes assigned.