Common name: Bog Moss
Mayaca fluviatilis Aubl. APNI* Description: Submerged or terrestrial herb to 60 cm high.
Leaves 5–20 mm long, about 0.5 mm wide.
Flowers on stalks 2–12 mm long; sepals 3, persistent; petals 3.5–5 mm long.
Fruit a capsule to 4 mm long. Seeds 2–25 per capsule, to 1.3 mm long with a honeycomb-like pitted surface.
Distribution and occurrence: Recorded as naturalised in a ground tank just south of Johns River village on the North Coast. Also sparingly naturalised in Qld. (Cook). Native from southern USA to northern Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Updated K.L. Gibbons, 18 Apr. 2023. In its native range it is recorded from marshes, seepage areas and in or at the edge of ponds, pools and streams.
NSW subdivisions: *NC
Distinguished from other waterplants by having leaves spirally arranged, linear; flowers solitary; petals 3, dark red to lilac, often white basally; fruit 3-valved. Probably spread by seed and movement of pieces.
Text by J Hosking and K Wilson (Nov 2011)
Taxon concept: Faden, Flora North America vol 22 (2000)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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