E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Ammannia robusta Heer & Regel
scarlet ammannia (grand redstem)
Lythraceae (Loosestrife family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Ammannia robusta
Click here to view our interactive map and legend

Details about map content are available here
Click on the map dots to view record details.

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.

Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Annual herb from spreading roots; stems erect to decumbent, solitary, simple or branched at the bases, 5-40 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves usually opposite, unstalked, oblong-lanceolate, 2-4 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, heart-shaped and clasping at the base, glabrous.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of 2-5, rarely 1, urn-shaped flowers in compact axillary clusters; petals usually 4, purplish, 3-4 mm long; styles at least 1 mm long, slightly exserted from the 4-toothed calyx.

Fruits:
Capsules, membranous, nearly round, about 4 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Wet sandy lakeshores and ponds in the steppe zone; rare in SC BC, known only from the Osoyoos area; disjunct to ON and S to MN, IL, OH, FL, TX, NE, CA and MX.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Similar Species

Ammannia robusta shares habitat with Rotala ramosior and may be separated from it by its lavender to scarlet flowers (Washington Natural Heritage Program website, accessed March, 2005). Additionally, leaves of A. robusta are sessile and clasping at the base whereas leaves of R. ramosior gradually taper to a distinct petiole (Douglas 1995). Ammannia robusta has at least some leaf axils with three to five flowers, while R. ramosior rarely has more than one flower per leaf axil (Douglas 1995).

Source: British Columbia Conservation Data Centre

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Native	S1	Red	E (May 2001)

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Ammannia coccinea Rottb.
Ammannia coccinea subsp. robusta (Heer & Regel) Koehne
Ludwigia scabriuscula Kellogg

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer
USDA

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-11 10:32:17 AM ]

Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.