Tenia Scarver

American Featherfoil

Scientific name: Hottonia Inflata Elliot

Group: Dicot

Family: Primulaceae

Duration: annual

Classification

Kingdom Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass Dilleniidae
Order Primulales
Family Primulaceae – Primrose family
Genus Hottonia L. – hottonia
Species Hottonia inflata Elliot – American featherfoil

Description: An aquatic with several thick, hollow, inflated, upright stalks emerging from water
and bearing tiny, greenish-white flowers in terminal clusters and in circles at stalk joints. The
unusual appearance of this floating aquatic plant is due to the 1/2 (1.5 cm) thick, inflated flower
stalks that are constricted at the joints and essentially leafless. Plants appear in great abundance
for a season and then completely vanish for as many as seven or eight years before appearing
again.
Habitat: Quiet, shallow water of pools, streams and ditches or occasionally wet soil.