Scientific name: Eriocaulon aquaticum (Hill) Druce
Common name: Pipewort
Description
Habit: Submerged perennial, stems erect, usually emergent and varying in height according to water level, up to 20(-150)cm, with worm-like roots.
Leaves: With a dense basal rosette of linear, pointed, soft, septate, translucent leaves 5-8(-10)cm long, fragile, the lower part enclosed by a loosely sheathing leaf.
Flowers: Flowering stems erect, simple, leafless, ridged, bearing above the surface, a terminal, button-like head, about 1/2mm across, of numerous, minute, whitish-grey, monoecious flowers; inflorescence 5-12(-20)mm across; perianth of 2 whorls, each of 2 segments; female flowers approximately 2mm, free, greyish-black; male flowers 3mm, free, the inner united below, yellowish-grey, usually with the male flowers in the centre of the head and the female at the margin; ovary 2-lobed, styles 2; stamens 4.
Fruits: Seed 1mm, smooth.
Habitat: Bog-pools and lakes near the West coast.
Distribution: Very local, but very frequent in some districts.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No