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Ceratophyllum demersum

(Common Hornwort)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Common Hornwort, Rigid Hornwort, Coon's Tail, Coon's-Tail, Coontail, Hornwort, Hornwort Ceratophyllum Demersum

Common Names in French:

Ceratophylle ?merg?, Cornifle Nageant, Cornille, Herbe ? cornes

Common Names in Romanian:

Cosor

Description

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Family Ceratophyllaceae

Herbs perennial , submersed , hydrophilous, monoecious. Roots absent. Stems glabrous , branched, free or attached by slender shoots . Stipules absent. Leaves cauline, 3--11 in a whorl; petiole inconspicuous; leaf blade divided dichotomously into filiform segments; segments with 2 rows of denticles . Inflorescences reduced, solitary or with vestigial branches, 1-several at a node, extra-axillary , alternating with leaves, sessile or peduncles lengthening in fruit; involucre of 8--15 foliaceous bracts; bracts 1.5--2 mm, apex terminated by 2 denticles and a medial multicellular appendage . Flowers naked, subsessile . Staminate flower : stamens 3--50, spiral ; filaments short; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Pistillate flower: pistil 1, simple ; ovary 1-loculed, placentation laminar ; ovule 1, pendulous; style persistent , short or elongate ; stigma decurrent. Achene leathery, indehiscent, ellipsoid , smooth or tuberculate , basal spines 0--2, facial spines 0--2, marginal wing present or absent, marginal spines 1--8. Seed 1, unitegmic , endosperm and perisperm absent; cotyledons fleshy .

One genus and six species: cosmopolitan ; three species in China.[1]

Genus Ceratophyllum

Plants , submersed perennials . Stems suspended or anchored by branches buried in substrate; branches 0-3 per node. Leaves 3-11 per whorl, cauline; petiole inconspicuous. Leaf blade simple or forked into linear-filiform, denticulate segments. Inflorescences extra-axillary , alternating with leaves. Flowers: bracts basally connate , foliaceous ; pedicel less than 1 mm or essentially absent. Staminate flowers : anther 2-locular, connective projecting as apical appendage . Pistillate flowers: ovary tapering to persistent , spinelike style; ovule pendulous. Achene ellipsoid , moderately compressed , surface smooth or tuberculate , basal or marginal spines (or both) present or absent, terminal spine present, marginal wing present or absent. x = 12, 19, 20.

Useful in identification of species of Ceratophyllum are leaf-forking characteristics. Leaves with no forking are "0-order"; they consist only of a primary segment. Those forking once are "1st-order"; their ultimate segments are secondary. Those in which at least one secondary segment forks are "2d-order"; their ultimate segments are tertiary. Those in which at least one tertiary segment forks are "3d-order"; their ultimate segments are quaternary . Those in which at least one quaternary segment forks are "4th order ."

Plumule features used in the key below are observable through dissection of softened (soaked) seeds removed from achenes.[2]

Physical Description

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Flower Color: green, near white, white

Habitat

Typically found in a lake at a mean distance from sea level of 310 meters (1,018 feet).[3]

Ecology:  

This species typically occurs in nutrient-rich standing or very slow-moving waters. Its apparent capability to tolerate elevated anthropogenic nutrient levels means that it can become very abundant or even dominant to the exclusion of most other species in canals, gravel pits , reservoirs and urban lakes .

[4].

List of Habitats :

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Ceratophyllum apiculatum Cham. • Ceratophyllum demersum var. apiculatum (Cham.) Aschers. • Dichotophyllum Demersum

Notes

Publishing author : L. Publication : Sp. Pl. 2: 992 1753 [1 May 1753]

 

Ceratophyllum is a complicated genus with a range of taxa named but inconsistently recognised. Cook (1970) states that the genus includes four polymorphic species, but in parts of Europe some of the morphological variants are recognised as species or at a subordinate level. Whilst at least in the west, C. demersum s.s. is so widespread and abundant that it is unlikely that taxonomic issues will affect its conservation or Red List assessment , inconsistent recording within the C. demersum complex is likely to affect the red list assessments of any subordinate taxa assessed.

[4].

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Ceratophyllum

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 5 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. demersum (Common Hornwort) · C. echinatum (Prickly Hornwort) · C. muricatum australe (Prickly Hornwort) · C. muricatum subsp. australe (Prickly Hornwort) · C. submersum (Coontail)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 11, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Dezhi Fu & Donald H. Les "Ceratophyllaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 6 Page 121. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Ceratophyllum". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Standard Deviation = 585.390 based on 36,057 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
  4. Zhuang, X. 2011. Ceratophyllum demersum. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 31 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012