Flower ID: IMG_3621.JPG-08-08-2022 Flower name (scientific): Bacopa rotundifolia (André Michaux) Richard Wettstein PY: 1891. Pronunciation guide: (phonetic spelling) buh-KOH-puh ro-tun-dih-FOH-lee-ah Flower name (common): Water-hyssop Family name (common): Plantain Family name (scientific): Plantaginaceae Scientific name origin: Genus: Etymology uncertain. Possibly a Guianan name for a particular plant in the genus, or a name used by the French botanist Jean Baptiste Aublet for a species collected while doing botanical work in French Guiana. Published by Aublet in 1775 in Histoire des plantes de la Guiane Francoise. Specific epithet: For the rounded (oval) shape of the leaves. Common name origin: Hyssop originally referred to a species of plant in the genus Hyssopus. It is now used with several qualifiers to denote plants in other genera. The qualifier water refers to the common habitats where this species is found. Flower description: Size: 0.2 to 0.4 inches (5 to 10 mm) Petal count: 5 Color: white Other: flower arrangement, Solitary Plant description: Size: 6 to 24 inches (15 to 61 cm) prostrate. Stem hairy: Other: Leaf description: attachment is opposite, type is simple Size: Leaves are 1 to 3.5 cm long and about 1 to 3 cm wide. Color: Hairy: Other: Shape: leaf, broadly spatulate to orbicular (MB) Origin (native, introduced, invasive): Native Status (common, uncommon, threatened, rare): Uncommon Bloom time (typical): May to August Cycle (annual, biennial, perennial): Annual/Perennial Habitat: In water or mud, lake shores, marshes, swamps, on rock outcrops in ephemeral pools, sun. Fruit: Seed: Importance to wildlife: Similar species (if any): No close lookalikes. This plant is rare, or significantly under reported in Wisconsin, with only one record from Jefferson County in the Flora of Wisconsin database. To ID this plant, some characteristics to look for are: 1. Stems hairy. 2. Leaves sessile and opposite with the blade broadly spatulate to orbicular, margins entire, and rounded at the tip. Leaves are typically 5 to 9+ nerved (veined) and the venation is palmate. Leaf margins may be short hairy. Leaves are about 10 to 35 mm long and 10 to 28 mm wide. 3. Flowers arise from the leaf axils, have 5 petals, with the corolla white with a yellow throat. Pedicels are hairy, about 9 to 15 mm long, shorter than the associated leaf. There are 4 white-tipped stamens that turn black and a style that is forked near the tip. 4. Habitat will be mud flat regions, lake margins, or small pools of water that may be ephemeral. 5. This is the only Bacopa species reported from Wisconsin. Ethnobotany: No recorded use by tribes from Wisconsin. Probably connected with the limited distribution of the plant in this region and the ephemeral nature of its habitat. Latitude: 44.800180 Longitude: -91.507817 Altitude: 221.20 Distribution: In Wisconsin: (Eau Claire, Jefferson) Click here for distribution map In US: (AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, OK, SD, TN, TX, VA, WI, WY) In Canada: (AB) References: Synonym(s): Basionym: Monniera rotundifolia Michaux Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 22. 1803. Homotypic Synonym(s): Heterotypic Synonym(s): Autonym: na