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• Orontium aquaticum

Orontium aquaticum — golden-club

Facts

Golden-club, rare in New England, is a specialist of shallow water of lakes and rivers, as well as river banks and tidally-influenced fresh-water rivers. It is at the northern limit of its eastern seaboard range in New England, being found in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Habitat

Floodplain (river or stream floodplains), fresh tidal marshes or flats, shores of rivers or lakes

Characteristics

• Clonal plantlets

  Axillary bulblets

  there are no bulblets being produced in axils

• Flowers

  Anther attachment

  the anther is attached by its base to the filament

  Anther color

  the anthers show no hint of a pink, reddish or purplish tint

  Bulblets replace flowers

  there are no bulblets where the flowers are located

  Carpels fused

  NA

  Flower bract length

  0 mm

  Flower bracts

  there are no bracts associated with the flower

  Flower number

  3–900

  Flower orientation

  the flowers point upward or spread or curve outward

  Flower petal color

  yellow

  Flower symmetry

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

  Form of style

  the style is knob-like at the tip, and unbranched

  Hairs on flower stalk

  NA

  Inflorescence hair glands

  the axis of the inflorescence has no hairs on it

  Inflorescence length

  20–100 mm

  Inflorescence type

  • the inflorescence differs from the choices given
  • the inflorescence is a spike (a long unbranched stem with flowers along it that lack stalks)

  Inflorescence width

  5–10 mm

  Length of flower stalk

  0 mm

  Length of peduncle

  200–400 mm

  Nectar spur

  the flower has no nectar spurs

  Number of carpels

  1

  Number of pistils

  1

  Number of sepals and/or petals

  • there are five petals, sepals or tepals in the flower
  • there are four petals, sepals or tepals in the flower
  • there are six petals, sepals or tepals in the flower
  • there are three petals, sepals or tepals in the flower
  • there are two petals, sepals or tepals in the flower

  Number of styles

  1

  Ovary position

  the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes only one cycle of petals or sepals

  Spathe

  the plant does not have a spathe

  Spathe form

  NA

  Spathe length

  0 mm

  Stamen number

  • 1 or 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamens fused

  the stamens are not fused to one another

  Style petal-like

  the style is not broad and flattened like a petal

  Tepals

  the petals and sepals are similar in size and color

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  • blue
  • green

  Capsule ridges

  NA

  Fruit compartments

  there is only one locule in the fruit

  Fruit cross-section

  the fruit is round in cross-section

  Fruit stalk orientation

  NA

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is fleshy

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a berry (fleshy, with the wall enclosing one or more sections, with two or more seeds)

  Fruit width

  10–20 mm

  Other markings on berry

  the ripe fruits are mostly one color without spots or streaks

• Glands or sap

  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

  Underground organs

  • the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)
  • there are only slender roots on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  whorled: there are three or more leaves per node along the stem

  Leaf blade basal lobes

  the leaf blades do not have basal lobes

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has a distinct leaf stalk (petiole)

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded

  Leaf blade bloom

  the underside of the leaf blade has no noticeable waxy or powdery bloom

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section

  Leaf blade faces

  both surfaces of the leaf blade are exposed

  Leaf blade form

  Fully-formed (i.e., expanded), +/- green leaf blades are found somewhere on the plant

  Leaf blade length

  60–450 mm

  Leaf blade orientation

  the upper surface of the leaf blade faces the stem of the plant

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  the upper side of the leaf blade is relatively uniform in color

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is rounded, with no point

  Leaf blade veins

  the lateral veins are parallel or slightly arched in the direction of the tip

  Leaf blade width

  At least 30 mm

  Leaf stalk length

  100–600 mm

  Leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Leaflet number

  0

  Stipule twining

  NA

  Stipules

  there are no stipules on this plant

• Place

  Habitat

  • aquatic
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • Rhode Island

  Specific habitat

  • fresh tidal marshes or flats
  • river or stream floodplains
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the leaves have no particular smell

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem growth form

  • the flowering stem is held upright
  • the flowering stem trails along the ground or on other vegetation, or floats in the water

  Flowering stem leaves

  there are no true leaves on the flowering stem

  Stem hairs

  NA

Wetland status

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

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae