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Isoetaceae
Quillwort Flower
Isoetes lacustris
Ancient perseverance hidden beneath the surface.
- Family
- Isoetaceae
- Genus
- Isoetes
- Native to
- Europe, North America
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- aquatic perennial
- Height
- 5–25 cm
- Sunlight
- full sun (submerged)
- Soil
- sandy or gravelly lake bottoms
- Water
- aquatic; fully submerged
- Hardiness
- 4–8
- Lifespan
- long-lived perennial
Did you know
- Quillworts are not true flowering plants — they are ancient spore-bearing plants related to club mosses.
- Their lineage dates back over 300 million years to the Carboniferous period, predating dinosaurs.
- They resemble small tufts of grass on lake bottoms and are easily overlooked by divers.
- Quillworts perform CAM photosynthesis underwater — extremely rare among aquatic plants.
- They are sensitive bioindicators of water quality and vanish when lakes become polluted.
Color meanings
Green
primordial endurance