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Mare's-Tail
Hippuris vulgaris
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Mare’s-tail is a perennial water plant with a bottlebrush look. It grows in shallow water along lakes, ponds, slow streams and sometimes sheltered seashores, often rooting in soft mud. Its tiny flowers are easy to miss.
Did you know?
- The same plant looks different above and under water: stiff, short leaves above, long and soft leaves below.
- Although it does flower, the flowers are so small that most people never notice them.
About the species
Identification
Perennial water plant with upright, unbranched shoots 10–60 cm tall growing from long creeping stems in the mud. Leaves sit in circles around the stem. Above the water the circles usually have 8–12 short, stiff, needle-like leaves (1–2 cm). Under water the leaves are much longer (4–7 cm), thin and floppy, and the circles are denser. Tiny, hardly visible flowers sit where the leaves meet the stem; the plant is wind‑pollinated. Later it makes small hard seeds about 2–3 mm. Unlike horsetails, it has no side branches or cone‑tips. The rare fourleaf relative has only four leaves per circle. Flowers in Finland from June to August.
Plant group
Herbaceous plants
Habitat
water
Flowering
Jun–Aug
About the habitat
Rooted in soft mud or peat in shallow fresh or slightly brackish water: lake and river shores, streams, ditches, ponds and similar pools; sometimes fully submerged. Common throughout the country.
Sources
Photo: luluchouette, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6188130483
Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Sisävedet: rantaniityt, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39697
Text: Pinkka: IPS-153 Flora of Subarctic Europe - Galeopsis-Koeleria, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39697
Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesikuusi
