Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Althenia bilocularis

Line drawings. i. young 'seeds'; j. leaf tips; k. male flower from the side (X 6) and above (X 11). A Barley, National Herbarium of Victoria, © 2021 Royal Botanic Gardens Board

Common name

Small-fruited Water-mat

Family

 Potamogetonaceae

Where found

Submerged in fresh, brackish, and saline lakes in water up to about 1 m deep, or slowly flowing water. Kosciuszko National Park. Tablelands south from Cooma.

Notes

Annual or short-lived submerged aquatic perennial herb, stems from less than 0.01 m to more than 1 m long. Rhizomatous. Leaves mostly alternating along the stems, almost opposite each other when subtending the flowers; tiny or to 4 cm long, less than 1 mm wide, tips often with 3 more or less distinct mucros, sometimes only with a single mucro. Male and female flowers on different plants. Male flowers with a cup-shaped perianth, about 1 mm long. Female flowers with 3 'petals' each about 2 mm long, appearing feathery. Flowers Nov–Mar.

Family was Zannichelliaceae.

 Was Lepilaena bilocularis.

PlantNET description:   https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Althenia~bilocularis(accessed 10 January 2021)