''Damasonium californicum'' is a species of perennial wildflower in the water plantain family which is known by the common name fringed water-plantain, or star water-plantain. ''D. californicum'' is a plant of wet environments in the western United States including

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. It is a resident of ponds, riversides, and vernal pools. This is a tough-stemmed plant which may live submersed in water or erect on mud or moist soils. It grows to above water. It has narrow basal

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

consisting of a thin blade, long, at the end of a long petiole. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

yields a flower at the end of each of several long peduncles. The flower has three white or pink petals, each with toothed or fringed ends and sometimes a yellow spot at the base. At the center are six short

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. After the flower withers the narrow fruits within develop into flat, beaked

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

s, several achenes gathered into a star-shaped bunch.

References

External links

Calphotos Photo galleryCalflora Taxon ReportGardening Europe, Piantaggine d acqua Damasonium californicum
Alismataceae Freshwater plants Flora of Idaho Flora of Oregon Flora of Nevada Flora of California Flora of Montana Flora of Washington (state) Plants described in 1857 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Alismatales-stub