Elatine brachyspermaA.Gray

shortseed waterwort

WFO wfo-0000665302 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 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 brachysperma, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. a Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-04-27 / obs. 36383240
Elatine brachysperma, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. b Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 36383309
Elatine brachysperma, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. c Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 33259449
Elatine brachysperma, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. d Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 8076244
Elatine brachysperma, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. e Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 8076248
Elatine brachysperma, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. f Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 33259440
Elatine brachysperma, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. g Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 8074671
Elatine brachysperma, photographed by Sam Kieschnick
fig. h Sam Kieschnick, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 1432491

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 29 botanical countries

Regions where Elatine brachysperma is native: Alabama, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, Argentina Northeast, Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay AlabamaAlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisLouisianaMexico CentralMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew MexicoOhioOklahomaOregonTexasWashingtonWyomingArgentina NortheastBoliviaPeruUruguay
Native distribution of Elatine brachysperma, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
Arizona ARI
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Louisiana LOU
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Oregon ORE
Texas TEX
Washington WAS
Wyoming WYO
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bolivia BOL
Peru PER
Uruguay URU

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 5 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 brachyspermum (A.Gray) Greene
  • Elatine obovata (Fassett) H.Mason
  • Elatine triandra var. brachysperma (A.Gray) Fassett
  • Elatine triandra var. obovata Fassett
  • Potamopitys brachysperma (A.Gray) 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.