Water pimpernel

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Water pimpernel

Water pimpernel corollas and calyces

Water pimpernel leaves

Water pimpernel inflorescence

Morphology

Stem

Ascending or reclining, solitary or tufted, simple to usually sparingly branched.

Leaves

In basal rosette and mostly opposite on stem, simple, egg-shaped to oblanceolate to broadly spoon-shaped, to 6 inches long, and 2.4 inches wide, mostly waxy; margins entire; tips truncate or with sharp, short, abrupt point.

Inflorescence

Raceme, .5 to 1.2 inches long, glandular hairy, terminal; stalk straight, stout, longer than stem,

Flower

Stalk slender, wiry, spreading or ascending, .4 to 1.2 inches long; calyx bell-shaped, 5-lobed; lobes triangular to oblong-ovate, glandular at base, often purplish, tips pointed; corolla 1/6 to 1/4 inch wide, white; lobes 5, egg-shaped, overlapping, shorter than bell-shaped tube, tips truncate or flat, toothed; stamens 5, not projecting beyond corolla.

Fruit

Capsule, spherical, 1/6 inch in diameter; seeds numerous, tiny.

Ecology

Habitat

Along streams and rivers, marshes, seepage areas, wet limestone; moist soils.

Distribution

South 1/5 of Kansas.