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Elatinaceae WATERWORT FAMILY |
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Elatinaceae Habit: Annual, short-lived perennial herb, in or near water; roots fibrous, from taproot or not, generally from lower leaf axils also. Stem: generally soft. Leaf: simple, opposite, +- 4-ranked; stipules scarious. Inflorescence: flowers in upper axils, 1 or few in clusters. Flower: small, inconspicuous, radial, bisexual; sepals, petals 2--5, equal in number, generally free; ovary spheric, styles 3--5, short. Fruit: capsule, septicidal, +- spheric, ovoid, or depressed-ovoid, walls thin; chambers 2--5, each several to many-seeded. Seed: small; surface net-like or glossy. Genera In Family: 2 genera, 50 species: +- worldwide. Jepson eFlora Author: Gordon C. Tucker & Evanielis U. Grissom Reference: Yang & Tucker 2007 Fl China 13:55--56 Unabridged Reference: Tucker 1986 J Arnold Arbor 67:471--483 Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti. Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Key to Elatinaceae Previous taxon: Shepherdia canadensis Next taxon: Bergia |