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• Aquatic plants
• Water plants with leaves and stems
• Cabomba caroliniana

Cabomba caroliniana — Carolina fanwort

Facts

Carolina fanwort is native to North America, but introduced to New England and elsewhere, probably due to its popularity in the aquarium trade. It can be an aggressive weed in New England.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), lacustrine (in lakes or ponds), riverine (in rivers or streams)

Characteristics

• Clonal plantlets

  Turion length

  0 mm

• Flowers

  Anther color

  there is a noticeable pink, reddish or purplish tint to the anthers

  Carpels fused

  the carpel is solitary or (if 2 or more) the carpels are not fused to one another

  Flower lower lip length

  0 mm

  Flower number

  1

  Flower position

  the flowers are above the surface of the water

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Inflorescence type

  • the flowers grow out of the axil (point where a branch or leaf is attached to the main stem)
  • the inflorescence has only one flower on it

  Inflorescence width

  6–15 mm

  Length of flower stalk

  30–100 mm

  Length of peduncle

  30–100 mm

  Nectar spur

  the flower has no nectar spurs

  Number of carpels

  4–8

  Ovary position

  the sepals and/or petals are attached below the ovary

  Palate on corolla

  no

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal color

  • white
  • yellow

  Petal fringed edges

  the petals are not fringed

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are separate

  Petal hairs on inner/upper surface

  there are no hairs on the inner/upper petal surface

  Petal length

  4–12 mm

  Petal number

  3

  Petal or sepal number

  there are three petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower

  Pistil number

  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

  Sepal appearance

  the sepals resemble petals in color and texture

  Sepal length

  5–12 mm

  Sepal number

  3

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are separate from one another

  Spur length

  0 mm

  Stamen number

  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6

  Stamen position relative to petals

  the stamens are lined up with the petals

  Stamens fused to petals

  the stamens are not fused to the petals or tepals

  Style number

  2–4

• Fruits or seeds

  Fruit length

  4–7 mm

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is an achene (dry, usually 1-seeded, does not separate or split open at maturity)

• Glands or sap

  Oil glands on nodes

  none of the nodes have oil glands

  Sap

  the sap is milky and opaque, and may be white or colored

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Root septa

  the roots do not have transverse septa

  Roots floating in water

  there are no clusters of roots floating in the water

  Turions

  there are no turions on the plant

  Underground organs

  the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Bract position (Sparganium)

  NA

  Bract relative length

  At least 3854 mm

  Bracts

  neither the flowers nor their pedicels have bracts

  Floating leaf basal lobes

  • no
  • yes

  Floating leaf blade width

  1–4 mm

  Floating leaf length

  6–30 mm

  Floating leaf shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)

  Floating leaf tip

  the tip of the floating leaf blade is rounded, with no point

  Floral bract form

  NA

  Floral bract length

  0 mm

  Leaf arrangement

  • alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
  • opposite: there are two leaves per node along the stem

  Leaf blade length

  6–35 mm

  Leaf blade veins

  the lateral veins radiate from the base and continue to spread away from the centerline of the leaf, or branch off the central vein at intervals

  Leaf blade width

  1–55 mm

  Leaf position

  some of the leaves are floating at the surface of the water

  Leaf special features

  none of the mentioned special features are present

  Leaf-like branch segments

  0

  Specific leaf type

  • the leaf is divided into two equal parts which in turn are divided into two further parts; each of these parts are divided and each of these may be further divided
  • the leaf is divided into two equal parts, with five or more levels of division
  • the leaf is not divided, rather the blade is made up of one segment
  • the leaf is palmately compound (i.e., it has two or more leaflets radiating from a common point)

  Staminate bract edge (Myriophyllum)

  NA

  Stipule appearance

  NA

  Stipule fused to leaf

  NA

  Stipules

  there are no stipules on the plant

  Stipules fused around stem

  NA

  Trap-bladder length

  0 mm

  Underwater leaf blade edges

  the underwater leaf has smooth edges, without teeth

  Underwater leaf blade shape

  • the underwater leaf blade is flabellate (fan-shaped)
  • the underwater leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)
  • the underwater leaf blade is reniform (kidney-shaped; wider than long)

  Underwater leaf blade width

  15–55 mm

  Underwater leaf length

  10–35 mm

  Underwater leaf stalk

  yes

  Underwater leaf stalk length

  10–40 mm

  Underwater leaf tip shape

  the tip of the underwater leaf is rounded, with no point

• Place

  Habitat

  • aquatic
  • terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island

  Specific habitat

  • in lakes or ponds
  • in rivers or streams
  • man-made or disturbed habitats

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem growth form

  the flowering stem is upright

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae