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

Hydrophyllum tenuipes A. Heller
Pacific waterleaf
Hydrophyllaceae (Waterleaf family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Hydrophyllum tenuipes
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Introduction

Pacific Waterleaf is found in North America from southern British Columbia south to northern California (Douglas et al. 1999). It reaches its northern limits of distribution in British Columbia. In BC, it is restricted in occurrence to the Fraser Valley (in the Abbotsford area and Chilliwack areas) and southern Vancouver Island, where t occurs in clonal patches in rich moist soils in woods and along streams (Douglas et al. 1999). Populations in the Fraser Valley are significantly threatened by expanding urban development, directly through site loss and indirectly through habitat decline.

Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from a short or elongate rhizome; stems spreading to ascending, solitary, usually reflexed-hairy, 20-80 cm tall.

Leaves:
Mostly basal, 10-25 cm long, 6-15 cm wide, long-stalked, somewhat palmately divided into 5-7, hairy, toothed, pointed leaflets.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of moderately compact, long-stalked clusters of funnel-shaped flowers; flower stalks 5-12 mm long; corollas green to greenish-white to blue or purple, 5-7 mm long, stalked, 5-lobed, the lobes 3-4 mm long; styles and stamens protruding beyond the corolla; calyces long-hairy on the margins, the lobes lanceolate.

Fruits:
Capsules, round; seeds 1-3.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Key to the Species and Taxonomic Notes

1. Leaflets entire or divided near the apex; rhizomes scarcely evident above ground..........................H. capitatum

1. Leaflets coarsely toothed along the margins; rhizomes usually conspicuous.

2. Leaf blades scarcely longer than wide, with 5 (7) segments, all but the lowermost pair usually confluent, the flower stalks 5-12 mm long..................................H. tenuipes

2. Leaf blades evidently longer than wide, with 7-15 segments, only the upper ones confluent; the flower stalks 2-7 mm long......................................H. fendleri

Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Moist woodlands and streambanks in the lowland zone; rare on S Vancouver Island and the lower Fraser Valley; S to N CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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	S3S4	Yellow	Not Listed

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

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Hydrophyllum viridulum G.N. Jones

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: 2024-05-13 5:01:16 PM ]

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.