White Water Crowfoot

Day 251: White Water Crowfoot (Ranunuculus aquatilis var. diffusus) is a fascinating little plant. Note that I said, "little." The flowers are only about 3/16" across. What is particularly interesting about this member of the buttercup family is that it exhibits two different forms of foliage, one on underwater stems and the other, after the stems break the surface. The aquatic foliage is comprised of thready, greenish-brown filaments, reminiscent of some other types of pond weed. Where it emerges from the water, the leaves become more moss-like and much brighter green.

Ranunculus Aquatilis Var. Diffusus

Day 287: Tentatively identified as Ranunculus aquatilis var. diffusus (White Water Crowfoot), this teeny-tiny treasure was another score from Arnie and Crow's bog adventure. The flower in the main image is imperfect; there should be five petals like those shown in the inset (lower right), but I could not capture the moss-like foliage with a perfect blossom. This aquatic species has thread-like, filamentous leaves on the portions of the plant which are submerged, so very different from the leaves above the water that they appear to be two different types of plant. In fact, the submerged leaves resemble those of the invasive Fanwort (Cabomba caroliniana). If Arnie had not pointed the flowers out to me, I would have dismissed the emergent foliage as a moss. Compare the leaves with the brown Douglas Fir needles in the upper right for size.