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• Hydrocharis morsus-ranae

Hydrocharis morsus-ranae — European frog's-bit

Facts

European frog's-bit is a Eurasian visitor, first planted in an arboretum pond in Ottawa, Canada in 1932 and subsequently invading the St. Lawrence River. It is now occasionally collected in Vermont lakes, river bays and side channels of rivers.

Habitat

Lacustrine (in lakes or ponds), riverine (in rivers or streams)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther color

  there is a noticeable pink, reddish or purplish tint to the anthers

  Anther length

  Up to 1 mm

  Carpels fused

  the carpels are fused to one another

  Flower lower lip length

  0 mm

  Flower number

  1–5

  Flower position

  the flowers are above the surface of the water

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Inflorescence type

  • the inflorescence has only one flower on it
  • the inflorescence is a monochasial cyme (an axis with a terminal flower, below it a branch with a terminal flower, this branch may itself have a branch and so on)

  Length of flower stalk

  0–90 mm

  Length of peduncle

  Up to 50 mm

  Nectar spur

  the flower has no nectar spurs

  Number of carpels

  6

  Ovary position

  the sepals and/or petals are attached above the ovary

  Palate on corolla

  no

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal color

  • pink
  • white

  Petal fringed edges

  the petals are not fringed

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are separate

  Petal hairs on inner/upper surface

  there are no hairs on the inner/upper petal surface

  Petal length

  Up to 10 mm

  Petal number

  3

  Petal or sepal number

  there are three petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower

  Pistil number

  1

  Sepal appearance

  the sepals resemble leaves in color and texture

  Sepal number

  3

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are separate from one another

  Spur length

  0 mm

  Stamen number

  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 9

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamens fused

  • the stamens are fused to one another at or near their bases
  • the stamens are not fused to one another

  Stamens fused to petals

  the stamens are not fused to the petals or tepals

  Style length

  Up to 4 mm

  Style number

  6

• Fruits or seeds

  Fruit type (general)

  • the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe
  • the fruit is fleshy

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a berry (fleshy, with the wall enclosing one or more sections, with two or more seeds)

• Glands or sap

  Oil glands on nodes

  none of the nodes have oil glands

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Root septa

  the roots do not have transverse septa

  Roots floating in water

  there are no clusters of roots floating in the water

  Turions

  the plant has turions

• Leaves

  Bract position (Sparganium)

  NA

  Bracts

  the flowers or their pedicels have bracts at their bases

  Floating leaf basal lobes

  no

  Floating leaf blade width

  13–63 mm

  Floating leaf length

  12–60 mm

  Floating leaf shape

  • the leaf blade is cordate (heart-shaped with backward-facing rounded lobes)
  • the leaf blade is orbicular (roughly circular, as wide as long)
  • the leaf blade is reniform (kidney-shaped; wider than long, with a basal sinus)

  Floating leaf tip

  • the tip of the floating leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)
  • the tip of the floating leaf blade is truncate (ends abruptly in a more or less straight line as though cut off)

  Floral bract form

  the bracts are roughly as lobed as the foliage leaves

  Leaf arrangement

  the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant (basal)

  Leaf blade length

  12–60 mm

  Leaf blade veins

  the lateral veins are parallel or slightly arched in the direction of the tip

  Leaf blade width

  13–63 mm

  Leaf position

  some of the leaves are floating at the surface of the water

  Leaf special features

  none of the mentioned special features are present

  Leaf-like branch segments

  0

  Leaf-like branch shape

  NA

  Specific leaf type

  the leaf is not divided, rather the blade is made up of one segment

  Staminate bract edge (Myriophyllum)

  NA

  Trap-bladder length

  0 mm

  Underwater leaf air passage number

  At least 1440

  Underwater leaf air passage relative width

  At least 1442

  Underwater leaf blade edges

  NA

  Underwater leaf blade shape

  NA

  Underwater leaf blade veins

  0

  Underwater leaf blade width

  0 mm

  Underwater leaf length

  0 mm

  Underwater leaf stalk

  yes

  Underwater leaf stalk length

  40–60 mm

  Underwater leaf tip shape

  NA

• Place

  Habitat

  aquatic

  New England state

  Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • in lakes or ponds
  • in rivers or streams

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem growth form

  the flowering stem is upright

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae