Common Name: WATERSHIELD FAMILY Habit: Perennial herb, aquatic, rhizomes in mud. Stem: elongate, leafy, ends floating. Leaf: of 2 kinds: submersed, palmately dissected, opposite [whorled], short-petioled, not peltate; floating, simple, alternate, petioled, peltate, entire; stipules 0. Inflorescence: flowers 1 on long axillary peduncles, generally on or above water surface. Flower: bisexual, parts +- free; sepals, petals each 3[4], alternate, persistent; stamens 3--6 or 18--36(51), filaments slender, anthers opening lengthwise; carpels [1]2--18, ovaries superior, 1-chambered, ovules [1]2--3[5]. Fruit: achene- or follicle-like, indehiscent. Seed: 1--3, aril 0. Genera In Family: 2 genera, 6 species: temperate, tropical America, Africa, eastern Asia, Australia; some Cabomba species cultivated for aquaria. Note: Separation from Nymphaeaceae (carpels fused, fruits berry-like) confirmed by molecular data (Les et al. 1999 Syst Bot 24:28--46). Unabridged Note: Pollinated by wind (Brasenia) or insects (Cabomba). eFlora Treatment Author: Thomas J. Rosatti Scientific Editor: Bruce G. Baldwin, Robert E. Preston.
Etymology: (Christoph Brasen, 1738--1774, Danish surgeon and plant collector, leader of the 1771 missionary expedition that established the Moravian mission of Nain on the coast of Labrador (Charters & Hollombe, pers. comm.))
Brasenia schreberi J.F. Gmel.
NATIVE Habit: Submersed parts covered with thick mucilage. Stem: slender, 3--20 dm, branching, red-brown. Leaf: centrally peltate; blade << petiole, 3.5--12(13.5) cm, 2--8 cm wide, elliptic to ovate, +- entire. Inflorescence: flowers 1 in axils. Flower: perianth 10--20 mm, +- red-purple or purple-brown; petals +- > sepals, linear-oblong; filaments thread-like; carpels (2)4--18, stigmas linear-decurrent. Fruit: 6--8(10) mm, oblong, leathery. Seed: 1--2. Chromosomes: 2n=80. Ecology: Ponds, slow streams; Elevation: < 2200 m. Bioregional Distribution: KR, NCoR, CaRH, SNH, ScV, MP (exc Wrn); Distribution Outside California: to Alaska, Montana; eastern North America, Central America, South America, Africa, eastern Asia, eastern Australia. Flowering Time: Apr--Oct Unabridged Synonyms: Brasenia peltata Pursh; Brasenia purpurea (Michx.) Casp.; Cabomba peltata (Pursh) F. Muell.; Hydropeltis purpurea Michx. Jepson eFlora Author: Thomas J. Rosatti Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory Previous taxon: Brasenia Next taxon: Cabomba
Botanical illustration including Brasenia schreberi
Citation for this treatment: Thomas J. Rosatti 2012, Brasenia schreberi, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=16062, accessed on April 25, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 25, 2024.
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).
Data provided by the participants of the
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
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Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
