Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Subularia aquatica is an aquatic plant in the mustard family which is known by the common name water awlwort. This is a small herb with awl-like leaves (generally cylindrical but tapering to a sharp point), and growing from a corm above a network of bright white roots. Tiny flowers, each only about a millimeter long, are borne on stalks. Flowers which rise above the surface of the water open, while those that remain submersed stay closed and self-pollinate. The seeds come inside tiny inflated pods. There are two varieties of water awlwort; S. a. var. aquatica is native to Eurasia and S. a. var. americana is native to northern North America. There may also be a Mexican subspecies. This plant grows in ponds, marshes, peat bogs, and other shallow, cold water bodies, often in gravel or sand. NativeNativePalearctic: Siberia: West SiberiaSoviet Far East: Kamchatka OblastNorthern Europe: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Kaliningrad, Norway, Sweden, United KingdomMiddle Europe: Belgium, GermanyEast Europe: Belarus, Central Russia, Central Black Earth, Northern Russia, North Caucasus, Northwestern Russia, Volga, Urals, Volga-VyatkaSoutheastern Europe: BulgariaSouthwestern Europe: France, SpainNearctic: Subarctic America: Northwest Territory, Yukon Territory, Greenland, AlaskaEastern Canada: Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, QuebecWestern Canada: British Columbia, Manitoba, SaskatchewanNortheastern United States: Maine, New Hampshire, New York, VermontNorth-Central United States: MinnesotaNorthwestern United States: Idaho, Montana, Washington, WyomingSouthwestern United States: California, Utah

Plant type

Annual herb

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Color

White

Plant communities

Wetland-Riparian