MENYANTHACEAE

BUCKBEAN FAMILY

William J. Stone

Perennial, ± aquatic; rhizomes thick
Leaves simple or with 3 sessile leaflets, generally alternate; stipules generally 0; petiole sheathing at base
Inflorescence: many types
Flower bisexual, radial; calyx 5-lobed; corolla 5-lobed, rotate to funnel-shaped; stamens 5, alternate corolla lobes, anthers with longitudinal slits; pistil 1, ovary superior or partially inferior, chamber 1, stigma simple or 2-lobed
Fruit: capsule, septicidal
Seeds few–many, smooth, shining
Genera in family: 5 genera, 30–40 species: worldwide.

MENYANTHES

BUCKBEAN, BOGBEAN

Species in genus: 1 sp
Etymology: (Greek: month, for length of flowering)

Native

M. trifoliata L.

Plant 17–38 cm; rhizome covered with old leaf bases
Stem prostrate or flower branches ascending
Leaves basal, alternate; leaflets 3, sessile, 2–12 cm, 1–5 cm wide, oblong-obovate, ± entire; petioles 5–30 cm; stipules present as wing-margins of petiole
Inflorescence: raceme on long peduncle, 2–4 dm; pedicel 5–25 mm
Flower: calyx lobes free, 2–5 cm, oblong, spreading, tube short-conic; corolla funnel-shaped, white to pink, tube 5–8 mm, lobes 5–8 mm, spreading, generally pinkish at tip with many scaly hairs on inner surface; filaments thread-like, anthers sagittate; disk of 5 glands at base of ovary; style persistent
Fruit elliptic, almost entirely superior; chamber 1, ± indehiscent
Chromosomes: 2n=54,108
Ecology: Ponds, bogs, swamps, wet meadows, seeps, margins of shallow lakes
Elevation: 900–3200 m.
Bioregional distribution: Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada (except Tehachapi Mountain Area), reported from c North Coast, San Francisco Bay Area
Distribution outside California: to Alaska, Colorado, circumboreal
Lvs sometimes used in beer-making as hops substitute
Horticultural information: WET (pure or acidic water), SUN: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.