Menyanthes trifoliata

Higher Taxonomy

Family: Menyanthaceae

Common Name: BUCKBEAN FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb [annual], +- aquatic, herbage glabrous; rhizomes thick. Leaf: simple or of 3 leaflets, generally alternate; stipules generally 0; petiole bases sheathing. Inflorescence: various. Flower: bisexual [unisexual], radial; sepals 5, united or not; corolla rotate to funnel-shaped, lobes 5, fringed or coarse-hairy marginally or adaxially or not; stamens 5, epipetalous, alternate corolla lobes, anthers sagittate; nectaries generally 5, at ovary base; pistil 1, ovary generally +- superior, chamber 1, stigma 2-lobed. Fruit: capsule [+- fleshy], valves 2--4. Seed: few to many, smooth, shiny.
Genera In Family: 5 genera, +- 70 species: worldwide.
eFlora Treatment Author: Robert F. Thorne, C. Barre Hellquist & William J. Stone
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.

Genus: Menyanthes

View Description

Common Name: BUCKBEAN, BOGBEAN

Etymology: (Greek: disclosing, flower, from flowers opening in succession in inflorescence)

Menyanthes trifoliata L.

NATIVE
Habit: Rhizome covered with old leaf bases. Stem: prostrate or flower branches ascending. Leaf: basal, alternate, emergent; leaflets 3, 2--12 cm, 1--5 cm wide, oblong-obovate, +- entire; petioles 5--30 cm; stipules as wing-margins of petiole. Inflorescence: raceme; peduncle 20--40 dm; pedicel 5--25 mm. Flower: calyx persistent, tube short-conic, lobes 5, 2--5 mm, oblong; corolla funnel-shaped, white to pink, tube 5--8 mm, lobes 5--8 mm, spreading, generally +- pink at tip, coarse-hairy adaxially; filaments thread-like, anthers sagittate; style persistent. Fruit: 2-valved, +- ellipsoid. Seed: +- elliptic, +- compressed. Chromosomes: 2n=54,108.
Ecology: Ponds, bogs, swamps, wet meadows, seeps, margins of shallow lakes; Elevation: 900--3200 m. Bioregional Distribution: c NCo, KR, CaR, SN (exc Teh), n CCo; Distribution Outside California: to Alaska, Colorado, Michigan, Maine, circumboreal. Flowering Time: May--Aug Note: Leaves sometimes used in beer-making as hops substitute.
Jepson eFlora Author: Robert F. Thorne, C. Barre Hellquist & William J. Stone
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Menyanthes
Next taxon: Nymphoides

Botanical illustration including Menyanthes trifoliata

Please use this Google Form for Contact/Feedback

Citation for this treatment: Robert F. Thorne, C. Barre Hellquist & William J. Stone 2012, Menyanthes trifoliata, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=33295, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Menyanthes trifoliata

Menyanthes trifoliata

More photos of Menyanthes trifoliata
in CalPhotos

Geographic subdivisions for Menyanthes trifoliata: c NCo, KR, CaR, SN (exc Teh), n CCo	MAP CONTROLS 1. You can change the display of the base map layer control box in the upper right-hand corner. 2. County and Jepson Region polygons can be turned off and on using the check boxes.

(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 Consortium of California Herbaria. MAP LEGEND View all CCH records All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window. Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location. Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues. READ ABOUT YELLOW FLAGS CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA. Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).