|
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| Photo
by Renee Brecht |
Britton and Brown. See
credits below. |
| Botanical name: |
Eryngium
aquaticum var. aquaticum
|
| Common
name: |
Rattlesnake
master
|
| Synonomy: |
n/a
|
| Group: |
Dicot
|
| Family: |
Apiaceae |
| Growth
Type: |
Forb/herb
|
| Duration: |
Biennial
|
| Plant
height: |
1.5'-4'
|
| Foliage: |
stiff,
upright, branched stem, with narrow, pinnately veined leaves. Leaves
are not parallel veined to the mid-rib. Upper leaves sessile.
|
| Flower
color: |
Round
heads of tiny five-parted florets; whitish color often with a bluish to
purplish cast |
| Flower
size: |
Heads
many in a terminal irregular umbel, the
leading ones up to 1-1.5 cm. long |
| Flowering/fruiting time |
Late
July into October
|
| Habitat: |
Salt
marshes and tidewater streams
|
| Range
in
New Jersey: |
Middle
district and Coastal strip.
|
| Heritage ranking if any |
S3 |
| Distribution |
|
| Misc.: |
USDA
lists as an obligate wetland species; i.e., Occurs almost
always (estimated probability 99%) under natural conditions in wetlands.
Stone lists as "common" on the salt marshes of the coast from Spring
Lake southward, and locally along Delaware Bay and the lower Delaware
River, also on tidewater streams some distance from the shore. "A
peculiar plant, usually growing with sedges, grasses and other
vegetation, its large compound umbels of bluish heads and spiny
involucres presenting a peculiar misty appearance at a distance against
the dark green of the salt meadows." Note that this species, considered
common in Stone's time, is now a species of concern (S3).
Sometimes confused with a similar species, Eryngium yuccifolium,
but the habitat is different (aquatic vs. drier habitat). Furthermore,
the leaf venation in E.
aquaticum is
not parallel to the mid-rib and the flowerhead bracts are divided into
three parts.
Eryngion
= classical
name for some prickly plant; aquaticum
= aquatic
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| Sources |
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