BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Wolffia borealis
northern water-meal
| Scientific Name: | Wolffia borealis (Engelm. ex Hegelm.) Landolt ex Landolt & Wildi | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | northern water-meal | ||||||||||
| 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: | WOLFBOR | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Sep 2024) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S3S4 (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
| Similar Species: | |||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Obligate
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| Global Habitat Comments: | This species grows in "mesotrophic to eutrophic, quiet waters in temperate regions" at elevations ranging from 0 to 1,400 meters (FNA 2000), including "still to slowly moving waters of ponds, lakes, beaver ponds, and swamps" (Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2024). | ||||||||||
| 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: | Wolffia borealis occurs in temperate North America in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, Canada and New Hampshire south to North Carolina and west to California in the United States (FNA 2000, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2024). Range extent was estimated to be approximately 5 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1993 and 2024 (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, NatureServe 2024, SEINet 2024). | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Soteropoulos (2024) | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Sep 20, 2024 | ||||||||||
| 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. 2001. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Vol. 6, Monocotyledons (Acoraceae through Najadaceae). B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, and B.C. Minist. For., Victoria, BC. 361pp. |
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Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2000. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 22. Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae, Commelinidae (in part), and Zingiberidae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiii + 352 pp. |
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Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2024. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of March 4, 2024. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2203 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. 2024. Species Summary: Wolffia borealis. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 5, 2026).