four-leaved mare's-tail (fourleaf mare's-tail)
Plantaginaceae (Mare's-tail family)
(Previously in Hippuridaceae)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
Species Information
General:
Perennial, aquatic, emergent herb from a creeping rhizome; stems erect, simple, glabrous, 1.5-5 mm wide, 10-40 cm tall.
Leaves:
Stem leaves 4-6 (8) per whorl, linear to oblong, glabrous, rounded at the tips, 6-15 mm long, 2-8 mm wide.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of tiny, single, inconspicuous, imperfect and occasionally perfect flowers in several whorls in the axils of the leaf whorls, stalked below, unstalked in the upper leaf axils, the flowers mostly bisexual; petals lacking; anthers 0.5 mm long; mature ovaries 2 mm long.
Fruits:
Nutlets, about 2 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
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) |
|||
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
0 | ||
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
7 | 7 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
1 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CWH(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Saline or brackish marshes, tide flats and shallow ponds in the lowland zone; rare in coastal BC; N to AK, YT and NT and E to Labr.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 |