Elatinaceae

2 gen., cosmop.

Elatine L.

6 species in Aust.; all states and territories

Elatine gratioloides A.Cunn.

Small, glabrous herbs, aquatic or creeping on mud. Leaves opposite or whorled, thin, obovate to very narrow-ovate or linear, 3–15 mm long; stipules small, caducous. Flowers minute, bisexual, regular, usually solitary, in one axil only of each pair of leaves. Sepals 3, membranous, obtuse. Petals 3, free. Stamens 3, hypogynous. Ovary superior, 3-locular; placentas axile. Fruit a capsule, membranous, depressed-globular, c. 1mm diam. Seeds cylindrical, slightly curved, marked with longitudinal and transverse lines. Widespread. Ponds and ditches