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Waterwort

Elatine

Also called Waterworts

Waterwort
Photo: Unknown author, Public domain

Elatine is a genus of about 25 small aquatic and semi-aquatic annual or perennial plants called waterworts, found in wet places worldwide. They grow best with their roots in moist mud or shallow water and full light.

Family
Elatinaceae (Elatin family)
Grows as
Aquatic, Annual, Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep roots constantly wet or submerged in shallow water.
Soil
Moist mud or sandy-silt substrate in shallow water.
Temperature
Mostly cool to temperate conditions; frost-hardy in many species, warm-season growth in others.
How easy
Moderate

About

Elatine is one of only two genera in the plant family Elatinaceae, the waterwort family. It contains about 25 species of aquatic plants known generally as waterworts. These are annual or perennial plants found in wet areas worldwide.

As of December 2021, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:

Other Elatine plants

Six-stamened waterwort

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Elatine 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.

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