NameThatPlant.net: Helanthium tenellum

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Alismatales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Helanthium tenellum FAMILY Alismataceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

This species basically looks like a tiny clump of grass, with numerous leaves that are very narrow and only about 2 inches long. Actually, the blade (upper half of the leaf) is somewhat wider than the stalk, but at any distance this can be overlooked. It has a very slender but erect flowering scape, to about 3 inches tall, with 3 tiny white petals on each flower. Learn more from Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Echinodorus tenellus FAMILY Alismataceae

COMMON NAME:
Mud-babies, Dwarf-burhead, Pigmy Chain-sword

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Helanthium tenellum FAMILY Alismataceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Echinodorus tenellus FAMILY Alismataceae

4858

Marginal emergent aquatic (rooted); Forb
Perennial

Habitat: On drawdown zones of Coastal Plain ponds, pineland ponds, pondcypress savannas in clay-based Carolina bays, blackwater riverbanks, or ponds in the Mountains with Coastal Plain affinities (Augusta County, VA); also apparently adventive on drawdown zones of artificial impoundments (Lake Chatuge, sw. NC and n. GA), per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Rare

CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Simple
Basal
Leaves have long petioles.

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
White
3-merous
3 sepals
3 petals
6 or 9 stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall?
Reddish-brown
Achene

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".

Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".