Common Name:
WATER STAR-GRASS
|
Coefficient of Conservatism:
6
Coefficient of Wetness:
-5
Wetness Index:
OBL
Physiognomy:
Nt P-Forb
S. Fawcett
plant
Shallow to deep water (recorded to 5.5 m) of ponds, lakes, marshes, rivers, and streams.
Most submersed plants are vegetative or have cleistogamous flowers hidden in the bases of the submersed leaves. Flowers with bright yellow perianth occur on plants stranded on muddy, sandy, or peaty shores and banks.
The midvein is almost always indistinct or no more prominent than other longitudinal veins of the leaf, thus distinguishing this species vegetatively from species of Potamogeton (also alternate-leaved) with similar strap-shaped leaves. In addition, Potamogeton zosteriformis has a very flat stem (it is rounded in cross-section in Heteranthera) and the stipules are entirely free from the leaf; P. robbinsii has partly adnate stipules, but the base of the free blade is slightly auricled, while in Heteranthera there are no auricles.