Elatine americana(Pursh) Arn.

American waterwort

WFO wfo-0000665298 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 3 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 3 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Elatine americana, photographed by Allan Harris
fig. a Allan Harris, CC0 1.0 / 2021-08-22 / obs. 152586855
Elatine americana, photographed by Allan Harris
fig. b Allan Harris, CC0 1.0 / obs. 89843050
Elatine americana, photographed by Allan Harris
fig. c Allan Harris, CC0 1.0 / obs. 152586893
Elatine americana, photographed by Allan Harris
fig. d Allan Harris, CC0 1.0 / obs. 89843363
Elatine americana, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. e Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 158956362
Elatine americana, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. f Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 158956352
Elatine americana, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. g Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 158956364
Elatine americana, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. h Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 158956343

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 32 botanical countries

Regions where Elatine americana is native: Kamchatka, Primorye, Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Northwest Territories, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia KamchatkaPrimoryeAlabamaArizonaCaliforniaConnecticutIllinoisMaineManitobaMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorthwest TerritoriesOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaQuébecSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginia DelawareRhode I.
Native distribution of Elatine americana, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
California CAL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
Illinois ILL
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Northwest Territories NWT
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Kamchatka KAM ASIA-TEMPERATE
Primorye PRM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 7 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Alsinastrum americanum (Pursh) Torr. & A.Gray ex Rupr.
  • Cryptina minima Nutt.
  • Elatine americana var. callitriche Hook.f.
  • Elatine triandra subsp. americana (Pursh) Á.Löve & D.Löve
  • Elatine triandra var. americana (Pursh) Fassett
  • Peplis americana Pursh
  • Potamopitys americana (Pursh) Kuntze

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.