Common Name:
WATER LOBELIA
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Coefficient of Conservatism:
10
Coefficient of Wetness:
-5
Wetness Index:
OBL
Physiognomy:
Nt P-Forb
M. R. Penskar
A circumpolar aquatic species characteristic of northern softwater lakes with low pH.
The leaves are almost always submersed or on recently exposed wet sandy shores, and the flowers may bloom and set fruit under water as well as above it. Even a small fragment of leaf is identifiable in the field, as it consists of little more than 2 hollow tubes side by side, and these have milky juice. The dense rosettes of slightly flattened, parallel-sided, slightly curved, obtuse to round-tipped leaves are very distinctive from a distance, often growing with Littorella, Eriocaulon, Isoëtes, and other rosette plants. Elatine and Myriophyllum tenellum are other interesting and characteristic associates.