Menyanthes trifoliata L.
buckbean
Menyanthaceae (Buckbean family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
buckbean
Menyanthaceae (Buckbean family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial semi-aquatic herb from a thick rhizome, this covered with old leaf bases; stems prostrate or ascending, glabrous, 15-40 cm long/tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves alternate, divided into 3 elliptic leaflets, these short-stalked, coarsely toothed, 1-5 cm wide, glabrous, the leaf stalks 10-30 cm long, crowded near the base of the flowering stem; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of many flowers in simple or compound, terminal clusters on naked stalks 5-30 cm long; corollas white, purple-tinged, scaly-haired on the inner surface, 5-6 lobed, the lobes 5-7 mm long; calyces 3-5 mm long, cleft nearly to the base into 5 lobes.
Fruits:
Capsules, oval, thick-walled, many-seeded; seeds brownish-yellow, smooth, shiny, buoyant.
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:
White
Blooming Period:
Mid Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Menyanthes trifoliata
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)
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) |
851 | 0 | 1750 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
0 | 0 | 40 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
135 | 20 | 350 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
7 | 5 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
519 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(39), CDF(12), CWH(77), ESSF(33), ICH(97), IDF(28), MH(8), MS(41), SBPS(18), SBS(152) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Bogs, fens, marshes, shallow ponds and lakesides in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common throughout BC; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to MO, CO and CA; Iceland, Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Menyanthes trifoliata var. minor Raf.