Scientific Family
Ceratophyllaceae
Synonyms
Ceratophyllum apiculatum, Ceratophyllum demersum var. apiculatum
Other common names
Coon's-Tail, common hornwort
coontail
hornwort
cornifle nageante
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
Trailing 8 feet or more
Riparian
Yes
Aquatic, immersed, leaf divisions thread-like, bright green, smooth; flexible with water currents but brittle; internodes clustered near tips, branches 0 to 3 per node, plants overwintering on bottom; detached, dense shoot tips, winter buds, no roots.
Largest leaves with fine divisions 1 to 2 or sometimes 3 times; leaves coarsely textured, margin teeth with small bumps that give them a serrated edge, usually strongly raised on broad base of green tissue; achene margin wingless, basal spines or bumps.
Habitat
Found in fresh to slightly brackish rivers, acidic to alkaline, with medium to high nutrient levels, in water 4 to 16 inches deep, in streams, ditches, lakes, ponds, pools, marshes, swamps, and slow watercourses.
Plant Community
Riparian
Low elevation
2000
High elevation
6500
Flower Characteristics
Uncommon to have flowers; unisexual, minute flowers solitary and stemless in leaf axils; 8 to 12-cleft whorl of bracts below flowers; sepals, petals none; stamens 30 to 50, pink to red, very short filaments or stemless anthers; ovary superior, 1-celled.
Flower color
Blue
Flower shape
Inconspicuous
Tubular
No
First bloom month
June
Last bloom month
August
Flower clusters
None
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Whorled, bright green, coarse-textured, simple or dissected into 2 to 5 very narrow, threadlike, ultimate segments (segments not inflated); blades 3 to 11 per node, with 2 rows of small teeth distally and 1 multicellular, glandular appendage at the tip.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Bright green
Leaf shape
Pinnatifid
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
None
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Unlikely to be found with fruit, its reproduction being primarily asexual.
Fruit type
Achene
Fruit color
Dark green or reddish-brown
Seed leaves (cotyledons) large, fleshy; terminal bud highly developed.