Field Guide to Tidal Wetland Plants of the Northeastern United States and Neighboring Canada: Vegetation of Beaches, Tidal Flats, Rocky Shores, Marshes, Swamps, and Coastal Ponds

Plants of Tidal Mudflats

Plants of Tidal Mudflats Flowering period: July through September. Habitat: Regularly flooded mudflats along edges of tidal fresh marshes and shallow tidal waters; inland muddy shores and shallow waters. Wetland indicator status: OBL. Range: Connecticut and New York to Florida and Texas (rare in NY). Similar species: A related species, Water Star-grass (Heteranthera dubia, Species 26), has alternately arranged, linear, grasslike leaves and six-“petaled” yellow tubular flowers borne singly in a leafy spathe. 29. Pygmyweed Crassula aquatica (L.) Schoenl. (Tillaea aquatica L.) Orpine Family Crassulaceae Description: Low-growing, erect, annual fleshy herb to 4 inches tall; stem branched from base; simple, linear, fleshy sessile leaves (usually 1 ⁄5 inch long), oppositely arranged and joined at stem; minute white or greenish-white four-petaled flowers borne singly in leaf axils. Flowering period: July through October. Habitat: Regularly flooded mudflats along brackish and tidal fresh marshes; mudflats along pools and shores. Wetland indicator status: OBL. Range: Quebec and Newfoundland to Maryland (rare in MA, ME, NH, NY, NB, NS, PEI; extinct in MD). FLESHY HERBS 27. Golden Club Orontium aquaticum L. Arum Family Araceae Description: Medium-height, erect, fleshy perennial herb to 11 ⁄2 feet tall; stout, fleshy rhizomes; simple, entire, egg-shaped, fleshy basal leaves (3–10 inches long and about a third as wide) tapering distally to a pointed tip, toward base rolled inwardly where attached to long, fleshy stalk (petiole, to 8 inches long); numerous minute yellow flowers borne at end of separate fertile, showy, fleshy white stalk (spadix) surrounded by a tubular leaf sheath (spathe) at base. Flowering period: April through June. Habitat: Muddy shores of regularly flooded tidal fresh marshes, also on rocky or gravelly shores; shallow waters and inland shores. Wetland indicator status: OBL. Range: Massachusetts to Florida and Texas (rare in CT, MA, NY, RI). 28. Kidney-leaf Mud Plantain Heteranthera reniformis Ruiz & Pavón Pickerelweed Family Pontederiaceae Description: Short, creeping perennial herb or floating (sometimes submerged) aquatic plant; simple, entire, thickened, somewhat fleshy, kidney-shaped to heart-shaped basal leaves (to 3 inches long and to 3 inches wide) with somewhat heart-shaped bases, long-stalked (to 6 inches long); one to many small, bluish, six-“petaled,” star-shaped tubular flowers (less than 1 ⁄2 inch long) surrounded by leafy bract (spathe, 1 ⁄2–11 ⁄4 inches long); three-valved oval fruit capsules (to 4 ⁄5 inch long) bearing numerous ridged seeds. 106 Plants of Tidal Mudflats 28. Kidney-leaf Mud Plantain 29. Pygmyweed 27. Golden Club  1 ⁄2  6  1  3 ⁄4 30. Brass Buttons Cotula coronopifolia L. Aster or Composite Family Asteraceae Description: Low-growing, strongly aromatic, erect perennial herb to 1 foot tall; somewhat fleshy stems purplish to reddish and smooth, branched from base and often almost creeping, rooting at nodes; fleshy leaves variable, entire, few coarse-toothed, or lobed (sometimes with few to many sharp teeth), narrow oblong to linear (to 12 ⁄5 inches long and 2 ⁄5 inch wide or more when lobed) with sheathing base, alternately arranged; very small tubular yellow flowers with four teeth arranged in buttonlike , disk-shaped heads (less than 1 ⁄2 inch wide) borne singly on stalks at end of branches. Flowering period: July into September. Habitat: Tidal flats and brackish muds; wet meadows. Wetland indicator status: Not rated in Northeast, probably OBL. Range: Quebec, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick, also in Massachusetts; native of South Africa. 30. Brass Buttons 108 Plants of Tidal Mudflats  1 Non-fleshy Herbs with Basal Leaves Only 31. Parker’s or Estuary Pipewort Eriocaulon parkeri B.L. Robins. Pipewort Family Eriocaulaceae Description: Low, erect perennial herb, 1 to 4 inches tall; thin, membranous, grasslike basal leaves (to 21 ⁄2 inches long) tapering to a fine tip; small white flowers in dense button-shaped head (1 ⁄8–1 ⁄5 inch wide) at end of four-angled stem (peduncle or scape) that extends above leaves, usually two to four peduncles. Flowering period: July to October. Habitat: Tidal freshwater (occasionally slightly brackish) mud flats and shallow waters. Wetland indicator status: OBL. Range: Quebec and Maine to North Carolina (rare in DE, ME, MA, MD, NJ, NY, NB, QC). Similar species: While Parker’s Pipewort is the typical mudflat species, two southern pipeworts that occur in the Northeast have been reported in tidal fresh wetlands and shallow waters: Ten-angle Pipewort (E. decangulare L.) and White...