Water Plantain

Scientific Name:

Alisma plantago-aquatica

Water Plantain plant
Photo: A J Brown

Status:

A native of Europe, western Asia and northern and central Africa. Also considered native to Australia.

Plant Description:

An emergent aquatic, perennial herb with ovate to oblong-elliptic, leaves to 28 cm long and 10 cm wide, on 1.5-1 cm wide, leaf stalks to 80 cm long with semi-transparent, membranous wings at their bases.

Flower-heads erect and panicle-like with flowers arranged in one to several successive whorls; each whorl of 3-8 flowers and each flower subtended by a bract. Flowers consist of perianth segments of which the 3 outer are green and the 3 inner white or pale pink. Fruit are one-seeded achenes (nutlets), 2-2.5 mm long, clustered into 18-20 fruited aggregates.

Habitat:

Common in central Victoria and Gippsland, scattered elsewhere in fresh-water creeks, lakes and swamps.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Central and Northern, Western, Gippsland	S0	W3, W4

Water Plantain photos

Leaves of Water Plantain Photo: A J Brown	Flower-head of Water Plantain Photo: A J Brown
Water Plantain fruit Photo: A J Brown

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