common mare's-tail
Plantaginaceae (Mare's-tail family)
(Previously in Hippuridaceae)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, aquatic, emergent herb from an extensive creeping rhizome; stems erect, simple but sometimes shortly branched from the lower nodes, glabrous, 1.5-5 mm wide, 5-40 cm tall, above water partly.
Leaves:
Stem leaves 8-12 per whorl, linear, glabrous, pointed at the tips, 6-35 mm long, 1-2 mm wide.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of tiny, mostly bisexual flowers in several whorls in the axils of the leaf whorls, stalked below, unstalked in the upper leaf axils; anthers 1.2 mm long; mature ovaries about 2 mm long.
Fruits:
Nutlets, 2-2.5 mm long; seeds 1.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Green
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
866 | 130 | 1440 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
0 | 0 | 10 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
148 | 70 | 220 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
7 | 5 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
87 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(2), BWBS(3), CWH(1), ICH(5), IDF(52), MH(1), PP(3), SBPS(4), SBS(11), SWB(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Streamsides, lake shores and shallow ponds in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common throughout BC, less frequent along the coast; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to Labr. and S to IN, NB, NM and CA; Chile, Argentina and Eurasia.Status Information
Taxonomic Keys
1. Stems 1.5-8 (10) cm tall, less than 1 mm wide; leaves 2-6 (10) mm long.......................H. montana
1. stems 10-40 cm tall, 1.5-5 mm wide; leaves 6-30 (50) mm long. 2. Leaves elliptic to oblong or egg-shaped, and blunt-tipped, 6-15 mm long, 2-8 mm wide, 4-6 (8) per whorl.............................H. tetraphylla 2. Leaves linear and slender-tipped, 6-30 (50) mm long, 1-2 mm wide, (6) 8-12 per whorl...............................H. vulgaris Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia |