Watershield

Leaf blade 3.5-13.5 × 2-8 cm. Flowers ca. 2 cm diam.; perianth parts dull purple, 10-20 × 2-7 mm; petals slightly longer and narrower than sepals. Fruits 6-10 mm. Seeds 1-2, 2.5-4 × 2-3 mm. 2 n = 80.

Stems to 1--2 m, glabrous, base rhizomatous. Petiole 25--40 cm; leaf blade 5--10 × 3.5--6 cm, glabrous. Flowers 1--2 cm in diam.; peduncle 6--10 cm. Perianth dull purple; segments 10--15(--20) × 2--7 mm; petals slightly longer and narrower than sepals, apex obtuse. Stamens 1/2 as long as petals, anthers linear, ca. 4 mm. Fruit 6--10 mm. Seeds 1--2, 2.5--4 × 2--3 mm. Fl. Jun., fr. Oct. 2n = 72, 80.

Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld., N.S., Ont., Que.; Ala., Alaska, Ark., Calif., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis.; Mexico; West Indies (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola); Central America (Guatemala and Belize); South America (se Venezuela); e Asia; Africa; e Australia.

Flowering late spring-summer.

Oligotrophic or mesotrophic ponds, lakes, and sluggish streams; 0-2000m.

In ponds, lakes, or swamps. Anhui, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [India, Japan, Korea, Russia (Far East); Africa, Australia, North America, South America].

Brasenia purpurea Caspary.