1. Hydrolea quadrivalvis Walter, Fl. Carol. 110. 1788.
[E F]
Water-pod
Nama quadrivalvis (Walter) Kuntze
Herbs, erect or decumbent, to 6 dm, unbranched, with short reproductive branches or with branches arising from prostrate stems. Stems green to brown, with long, jointed hairs; thorns 1 or 2 per node, rarely absent, 5–12 × 0.6–1.2 mm. Leaf blades lanceolate, 4–10 × 1–2.5 cm, base attenuate to acute, margins entire or serrulate, surfaces hairy, with occasional long trichomes restricted to veins. Inflorescences axillary, fasciculate, 1–10-flowered, or on short, leafy branches. Flowers: sepals lanceolate, 6–10 × 1.5–2.5 mm, with long, jointed hairs; corolla blue, rarely white, petals 8–11 × 3.5–6 mm; ovary glabrous; styles 2, 3.5–5 mm, glabrous. Capsules globose, 5.5–7 × 5–7 mm, glabrous. Seeds cylindric, 0.6–0.7 × 0.2–0.3 mm. 2n = 20.
Flowering Jul–Sep. Pond margins, stream banks and mudflats; 30–400 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Va.
In morphology, Hydrolea quadrivalvis is closest to H. uniflora but differs in having long, jointed hairs on stems and sepals.
