Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Prostrate to densely mat-forming annual, stems often rooting at the nodes, often reddish.

Leaves: Opposite, subsessile or short-petiolate, spatulate to obovate, rounded at apex, sometimes slightly notched, 3-8 mm long, 2-5 mm wide.

Flowers: Small and inconspicuous, solitary in axils, sessile, with 3 subequal sepals, 3 pinkish petals, orbicular, 3-celled ovary.

Fruits: Three carpelled capsule irregularly dehiscent, subglobose with cylindroid seeds with 20-30 angular pits in each row of longitudinal striate pits.

Ecology: Found along edges of ponds, lakes or streams, 5,000-8,000 ft (1524-2438 m); flowers May-September.

Notes: Distinguished from E. brachysperma by the wider leaves that are notched, and the curved seeds that have many more pits per row. There is uncertainty as to the identity of this species. If found in the region, it may be in the Verde Valley parks.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Elatine is a Greek name for a low creeping plant, while rubella means pale red.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley, 2010