Callitriche stagnalis Scop.

Spice Detail In the field In the field 2

Family: CALLITRICHACEAE

Genus: Callitriche

Catalan common name: Estel d'aigua.

Spanish common name: Estrella de primavera.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Hydrophyte.

Habitats: Non-saline wetlands (intermittent watercourses, streams, artesian wells, ditches). Ponds and torrents.

Characteristics: This is a completely aquatic plant, it lives rooted to the beds; it has very long, thin stems with narrow, almost linear leaves, apart from the top ones which form a rosette of leaves that float on the surface and are rounded. Sometimes there is a large amount of rosettes of floating leaves that may even cover the whole surface of water, giving the pool or torrent (dry river bed) a green colour, in these cases it can be mistaken for duckweed (Lemna spp.), but we can set our minds at rest only by seeing whether there are submerged leaves (duckweeds never have them) and checking if the plant is rooted in the sediment (duckweed never takes root). There are several species of Callitriche, all of which very similar; it is essential to classify them with keys and to have up-to-date material.