Small Waterwort

Elatine minima

Found in tidal flats, lakes, mud flats, pools on granite flatrocks. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

Modest

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 71%

Height: Up to about 4 inches
Light: Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture: Moist to standing water

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Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle: Annual
Bloom: July to October

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Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 3 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 3

Regional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops

Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

0CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

0BeesSoutheastern regional records

0Specialist beesPollen specialists

—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Elatinaceae
Flower color: Red or not applicable

Growing sources and scope

Bloom · “July to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Flower color · “Red or not applicable” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Height · “Up to about 4 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Life cycle · “Annual” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
primary_flower_color · “red” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Soil · “Moist; Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia

Also known as

Tiny Waterwort

Conservation status

Virginia rank	S1
Global rank	G5
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Small Waterwort

At a glance

Natural habitats

Who uses this plant?

Plant details

Conservation status

Will it fit your yard?

Sources

More Elatine