Plants with fibrous strands of old leaves at base, 6--35 cm. Leaves erect from sheath, mostly longer than scapes, 4--35 cm; sheath 1.1--7.5 cm  0.7--1 mm, ligule not hoodlike, unlobed; blade 0.2--5 mm wide, apex round-acute. Inflorescences: scape green to brown, mostly exceeded by leaves, 4.5--21.5 cm  0.3--1.6 mm; racemes 0.6--20.3  0.4--1.3 cm; pedicels 0.4--2.1  0.1--0.3 mm. Flowers: tepals oval to elliptic, 0.6--1  0.8--0.9 mm, apex obtuse; pistils 6, 3 fertile, 3 sterile. Fruits: fruiting receptacle with wings; schizocarps globose to broader than long, 1--2  1.5--2.3 mm; mericarps obovate, strongly 3-keeled, 1--1.5  0.5--0.9 mm, beak reflexed, ca. 0.2 mm. Chromosome number unavailableunknown.

Flowering summer-- and fall. Coastal alkaline marshes; 0--10 m; Ala., Calif., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., Oreg., S.C., Va.; Mexico; West Indies (Bahamas, Greater Antilles); South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru).

OTHER References Cronquist, A. 1981. An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants. New York. Dahlgren, R. M. T., H. T. Clifford, and P. F. Yeo. 1985. The Families of Monocotyledons. Berlin. Larsen, K. 1966. Cytotaxonomical note on Lilaea. Bot. Not. 119: 496--497. Les, D. H. and R. R. Haynes. 1995. Systematics of subclass Alismatidae: A synthesis of deletions approaches. In: P. J. Rudall, et al., eds. 1995. Monocotyledons: Systematics and Evolution. 2 vols. Kew. Vol. 2, pp. 353--377. Löve, AÁ. and D. Löve. 1981. In: IOPB A. Löve. 1981. c Chromosome number reports LXXII. Taxon 30: 694--708. Tomlinson, P. B. 1982. Helobiae (Alismatidae). In: C. R. Metcalfe, ed. 1960+. Anatomy of the Monocotyledons. 8+ vols. Oxford. Vol. 7.