Flora of New Zealand Series

E. americana Hook. f. Fl. N.Z. 1, 1852, 27 non (Pursh) Arn. in Edinb. J. nat. geog. Sci. 1, 1830, 431.

E. americana var. australiensis Benth. Fl. Aust. 1, 1863, 178.

Type locality: "In a bog at Tauraki, Hokianga River". Type: K, R. Cunningham, 1834.

Small subsucculent annual herbs. Land forms glab. or with a few scattered hairs; stems and branches slender, rooting at nodes, forming loose or rather dense patches up to 15 cm. across. Lvs very shortly petioled; lamina (1)-2-4-(5) × 0·5-3 mm., oblong to ovate to elliptic, obtuse; margins sparingly glandular, entire to sinuate or minutely serrulate; stipules minute, fugaceous. Fls minute, solitary, sessile; sepals 3, petals 3 > sepals or 0; stamens 6-3. Capsules globose-depressed, seeds up to 10, ridged, transversely wrinkled. Submerged forms rooted in mud up to 30 cm. below water-surface; stems and branches erect, reaching water-surface, internodes elongate; lvs up to 12 × 6 mm. or more, entire to shallowly sinuate.

DIST.: N., S., St. Occ. in damp muddy places, margins of ponds and streams throughout, but local.