What plant is that?

Click on photo below to view larger image

Photo Credit: © Francis R. Underwood 2012

This month’s mystery plant is a small tufted annual which grows in sandy or muddy soil on brackish pond shores and blooms from July to October. Its very small flowers, which are about 1/8” long, are white and have five petals, five sepals and only four stamens.  The flowers are borne singly on recurved peduncles which are shorter than the leaves. The leaves are filiform and one to two inches long. The leaves and flowers are so small as to be almost unnoticeable.

It is listed as a rare plant in RI. The flower in the photo shown here was taken through a microscope

It’s. . .

Botanical Name:		Limosella australis L. var. tenuifolia Hoffman
Common Name:		Atlantic Mudwort
Family:		Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)
Habitat:		Sandy or muddy soil along brackish pond shores. Plants are often submerged.