BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Nymphaea tetragona
pygmy waterlily
| Scientific Name: | Nymphaea tetragona Georgi | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | pygmy waterlily | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vascular Plant | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | NYMPTET | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Aug 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S3 (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Blue | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 3 - Sensitive (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Pygmy Water-lily is an herbaceous perennial with submergent stems and floating leaves arising from a thick rhizome. The leaves have a long, slender petiole attached to the base of a long, v-shaped notch in the elliptic blades that are 7-10 cm long. The bowl-shaped flowers have long, slender stalks and float on the surface of the water. Each flower has 4 light green, narrowly elliptic sepals that are 2-3 cm long and 7-15 white, narrowly lance-shaped petals of the same length. There are 30-45 yellowish stamens, and the stigma is large and saucer-shaped. The fruit is woody and berry-like. | ||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
| Diagnostic Characteristics: | BRASENIA SCHREBERI does not have a notch in the leaves. NUPHAR has yellow flowers, and the lower leaf surface is not as purple as in NYMPHAEA. NYMPHAEA ODORATA has larger leaves, 20-30 petals, and 50-100 stamens. | ||||||||||
| Similar Species: | |||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Lakes / Lake / Facultative - frequent use
Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Facultative - frequent use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Nymphaea tetragona generally occurs in clear water, with a neutral or slightly alkaline pH, over a rich, organic substrate. Its habitats include ponds, shallow lakes, slow-moving streams, and edges of slow, open water channels through marshes. N. tetragona may also occur in streams impounded by beaver or by humans. | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
| Known Pests: | |||||||||||
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| Pollinator: | |||||||||||
| Dispersal: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Inventory | |||||||||||
| Inventory Priority: | |||||||||||
| Ownership of occurrences (Known locations): | |||||||||||
| Inventory Need: | |||||||||||
| Economic Attributes | |||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Nymphaea tetragona is a circumpolar species that occurs sporadically across northern North America and Eurasia. In North America, it occurs from northern Maine and Quebec west to British Columbia and Alaska. In the U.S., it occurs only in Maine, Michigan (Isle Royale), Minnesota, and Montana, and is historical in Idaho and Washington. | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | KAJ | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Dec 07, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| Last Literature Search: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Penny. 2002. Rare Native Vascular Plants of British Columbia, 2nd ed. B.C. Conserv. Data Centre, Terrestrial Inf. Branch, Victoria. 358pp. |
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Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar. eds. 1999. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Vol. 3, Dicotyledons (Diapensiaceae through Onagraceae). B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, and B.C. Minist. For., Victoria. 423pp. |
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Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 1997. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 3. Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiii + 590 pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Nymphaea tetragona. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed May 12, 2024).