Family: Menyanthaceae
bogbean, common buckbean
[Menyanthes trifoliata var. minor L.]
Etymology: Menyanthes: ancient Theophrastian name for "month" and "flower," referring to length of time it blooms
Plants: erect, perennial, 4"-12" tall, fleshy aquatic
Leaves: 3-parted, basal, fleshy, hairless, on a long stalk with a wide, sheathing base
Flowers: white often with a purple-tinge, 5-parted, 1/2"-3/4" wide, throat coarsely hairy; inflorescence a branched, crowded cluster (cyme); blooms April-July
Habitat: quiet, shallow, cold water; bogs, forests, sloughs
Conservation Status: Native
Plants: erect, perennial, 4"-12" tall, fleshy aquatic
Leaves: 3-parted, basal, fleshy, hairless, on a long stalk with a wide, sheathing base
Flowers: white often with a purple-tinge, 5-parted, 1/2"-3/4" wide, throat coarsely hairy; inflorescence a branched, crowded cluster (cyme); blooms April-July
Habitat: quiet, shallow, cold water; bogs, forests, sloughs
Conservation Status: Native
Buckbean, bogbean. Characteristic of very wet, Sphagnum-Carex-Ericaceae bogs, open or with scattered trees, often on floating mats or in the shallow, acidic water of bordering moats, but sometimes in deep sphagnum, also wet tamarack, alder, or cedar-black ash swamps and swales behind sandspits along Lake Superior, local farther south in flooded willow or dogwood thickets, rarely in sedge meadow marshes of the central plain and relictual tamarack bogs and calcareous fens (e.g., Waubesa Wetlands SNA) in the southeast. A circumpolar species, readily distinguished by the pale, trifoliolate leaves and scapose racemes of heterostylous flowers, the bright white corollas of which are bearded or fringed on the inner surface with coarse, white hairs
Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 10, Wetland Indicator = OBL USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS): Images of seeds, fruits, embryos, etc. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS): Images of seeds, fruits, embryos, etc. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS): Images of seeds, fruits, embryos, etc. Southwest School of Botanical Medicine: Britton & Brown Illustrated Flora - 2nd Edition (1913) "An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada"