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DESCRIPTION:
Waterhyssops are annual, aquatic broadleaf weeds that are common in rice fields, shallow ditches, ponds, and
reservoirs. Seedlings have cotyledons (seedleaves) that are 1.5 to 2 times longer than they are broad. The oval or round
first leaves are produced onstems and lack stalks. Mature plants have branched, fleshy, hollow stems that are slightly constricted
at the joints where they may grow roots. Circular or wedge shaped leaves grow opposite one another on the stem. Leaf veins
radiate from a common point. The plant produces one or two five-petaled,, white and yellow flowers at the base of leaves
or on narrow stalks. Mature fruit, which contain two to four seed capsules, are submerged.
Eisen waterhyssop (B. eisenii), a native Californian plant, is found south of the Sacramento Valley.
Disk waterhyssop (B. rotundifolia, shown in these images) grows in the Sacramento Valley and north. Seeds
of both species germinate with rice field flooding in the spring.
Broadleaf ID illustration.
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