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Spineless hornwort

Ceratophyllum echinatum

Also called Hornwort, Prickly Coontail, Prickly Hornwort, Spiny Hornwort, Spring Hornwort

Spineless hornwort
Photo: Robert Curtis, Summit Metro Parks, iNaturalist observer, CC BY 4.0

Spineless hornwort is a submerged aquatic perennial with no true roots, found in ponds and lakes. It grows best in cool, still or slow water with plenty of light and needs no soil.

Family
Ceratophyllaceae (Ceratophyll family)
Grows as
Aquatic, Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Grows fully submerged in water; keep it covered in ponds or tanks.
Temperature
5–25 °C; hardy in cool temperate water and dies back in winter.
How easy
Easy
Native range
W. Canada to NW. U.S.A., C. & E. Canada to C. & E. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Ceratophyllum echinatum, known as prickly coontail or spiny coontail, is an aquatic, perennial plant found in North America. Its name comes from fruits, which have a warty surface and long spines. Spiny coontail can be found in ponds and lakes, principally in eastern North America. It is the only species of its genus endemic to North America.

Ceratophyllum comes from the Greek keras, "a horn" and phyllon, "leaf", which is alluding to the stiff and narrow leaf divisions. The specific epithet echinatum comes from echinus which means sea urchin or hedgehog.

Other Ceratophyllum plants

Rigid Hornwort · Prickly hornwort · Soft Hornwort · Hornwort

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ceratophyllum echinatum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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