Spiny Quillwort |
Isoetes echinospora |
Older name: Isoetes setacea
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Photo © Don Lubin |
Rare, in lochs with peaty bottoms Leaves up to c 20 cm long ID: See Quillwort for distinctions from various flowering plants with similar leaves. Told from Quillwort by leaves being flaccid, often lying flat on the loch bottom, and by the leaves tapering uniformly from the base to the tip, instead of being parallel-sided until near the tip and then tapering. Other features: Quillworts have groups of large female spores (c 1/2 mm diameter) at the base of some leaves, and groups of small male spores at the base of others. In this species the large spores are covered with spines, but in Quillwort they are covered with blunt tubercles. |
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Photo © Don Lubin |