Section 5 » Order Hydrocharitales » Family Hydrocharitaceae |
Show/Hide Synonym
taxonName | relationship | relatedTaxonName | relatedTaxonRefText | relComments |
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Vallisneria americana | < | Vallisneria americana | Flora of North America (1993b, 1997, 2000, 2002a, 2002b, 2003a, 2004b, 2005, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c, 2007a, 2009, 2010) | | Vallisneria americana | < | Vallisneria americana | Godfrey and Wooten (1979, 1981) | | Vallisneria americana | < | Vallisneria americana | Kartesz (1999) | | Vallisneria americana | < | Vallisneria americana | Wunderlin & Hansen Flora of Florida (3) | | Vallisneria americana | ? | Vallisneria americana | Fernald (1950) | | Vallisneria americana | ? | Vallisneria americana | Gleason (1952) | | Vallisneria americana | ? | Vallisneria americana | | | Vallisneria americana | ? | Vallisneria americana | Wofford (1989) | | Vallisneria americana | ? | Vallisneria americana | Flora of West Virginia | | Vallisneria americana | ? | Vallisneria americana var. americana | Gleason and Cronquist (1991) | | Vallisneria americana | > | Vallisneria americana | Small (1933, 1938) | | Vallisneria americana | > | Vallisneria spiralis | Small (1933, 1938) | | Source: Weakley's Flora |
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Author | Michaux | |
Distribution | Primarily a coastal and near-coastal species, found from the VA border south to Brunswick County. Also a few scattered inland records in the southwestern Coastal Plain and one site in the northern Mountains.
This is a widespread species across the continent, but is primarily coastal and Northern. There are numerous collections south to VA and MO, as well as in FL. | |
Abundance | Fairly common to locally common in the eastern Coastal Plain, south to Carteret County. Very rare farther south and inland, though theoretically could be found in most any county. | |
Habitat | This species grows submerged in still or slow-moving waters of estuaries, rivers, ponds, and lakes. It often can be found in brackish and oligohaline waters of Tidewater Sounds. | |
Phenology | Flowers and fruits from July to October. | |
Identification | This is a submerged grasslike plant with a number of essentially erect leaves emerging from a common base. The leaves are up to 2 feet tall, about 1/3-inch wide, and minutely serrate along the margins. Male flowers are numerous and break from a spathe to free-float on the surface, small, with 3 white petals and 3 white sepals. The also white female flowers are on long stalks that reach the water surface. Common Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a similar plant but has shorter and more branched leaves, which are rounded at the tips and are strongly 3-5 nerved. Zostera grows only in strongly brackish tidal waters of sounds and bays, usually in very extensive beds. | |
Taxonomic Comments | None
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Other Common Name(s) | Vallisneria, Water-celery, Wild Celery, Tape-grass, Eelgrass (a misleading name, as Zostera marina is named as Common Eelgrass) | |
State Rank | S3 | |
Global Rank | G5 | |
State Status | | |
US Status | | |
USACE-agcp | OBL link |
USACE-emp | OBL link |