|  back  | forward |

Proserpinaca pectinata - (image 1 of 5)

Taxonomy

Family: Haloragaceae

Habitat

Sandy bogs, wet pine savannas.

Associates

Distribution

Coastal plain from Nova Scotia to FL and LA.

Morphology

Herbaceous perennial; stems decumbent and prostrate or rooting at the base, often colonial, the flowering branches erect, 10-40 cm; submersed leaves, if present, 2-4 cm, ovate or broadly oblong, deeply pinnatisect into narrow segments; emersed leaves ovate-oblong in outline, 1.5-3 cm, deeply pinnatisect, the rachis scarcely wider than the 6-12 pairs of lateral segments; fruit 2.5-4 mm wide, irregularly ridged, obtusely angled with nearly flat sides.

Notes

Flowers June to August

Wetland indicator: OBL

Proserpinaca palustris is similar but with the emersed leaves merely serrate rather than deeply pinnatisect. Plants on the coastal plain from Nova Scotia to VA with shallowly pectinate-pinnatifid emersed leaves have been called P. intermedia Mack. and may be a hybrid of the other two species.

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.

The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

Home