Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin

Alisma triviale Pursh

Family: Alismataceae

northern water-plantain

[Alisma brevipes Greene, more...]

Christopher Noll

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium (UWSP)

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Etymology: Alisma: Greek name for a water plant
Plants: erect or floating, perennial, semi-aquatic to aquatic, 4"-40" tall
Leaves: in basal rosette, with parallel veins, linear to lance-like to widely elliptical or oval, long-stalked, smooth and firm, aquatic or terrestrial
Flowers: white, 3-parted, 1/3" wide, petals half again as long as the sepals; inflorescence taller than the leaves and with 4 or more whorls of flowers per stalk; blooms June-Sept.
Fruits: dense ring of dry seeds; seed with 1 groove on the back
Habitat: shallow water, ponds; in muddy soil
Hazardous: Careful, this plant is hazardous!
Conservation Status: Native

Emergent or floating leaf aquatic herb of shorelines and near shore zones in lakes, ponds, marshes, rivers, streams and wetlands. Disturbance tolerant. Common. Nearly impossible to separate from A. subcordatum without mature fruits or intact flowers (see discussion under A. subcordatum). Flowering specimens with petals that are twice as long as the sepals are almost always A. triviale.