Lilaea is a monotypic genus of aquatic plants containing the single species Lilaea scilloides, which is known by the common names flowering quillwort, awl-leaf lilaea, and simply lilaea. The taxonomy of this plant has been in debate, with some authors assigning it to a family of its own named Lilaeaceae, and others keeping it in the small arrowgrass family, Juncaginaceae.Flora of North America It is native throughout the Americas and it can be found elsewhere as an introduced species, particularly in Australia. This is an annual herb growing in or just next to water in several types of shallow aquatic habitat, including vernal pools, mudflats, and ditches. The plant takes the form of a tuft of basal leaves around a very short stem. Each onionlike leaf is very narrow, long and pointed, reaching 25 to 40 centimeters long. It is wrapped in a translucent sheath at the base. The inflorescences include clusters of staminate and bisexual flowers at the tip of a narrow stalk as well as pistillate flowers in underwater axils. The pistillate flower is composed of a threadlike style which may be up to 20 centimeters long tipped with a stigma which floats on the water surface. The fruit is a beaked, ribbed nutlet up to a centimeter long.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
⚠ sources differ — GIFT: 0.27 m · USDA: 0.244 m · TRY: 0.229 m
Seed mass1.18 mg
Seed mass max1.95 mg
Seed mass min0.658 mg
Life cycle & reproduction24
After harvest regrowth rateSlow
Bloom periodMid Spring
Coppice potentialNo
Flower colourgreen
Flower conspicuousNo
Fruit seed period beginSummer
Fruit seed period endFall
Growth rate USDAModerate
Life formannual
Life spanannual
Propagated by bare rootNo
Propagated by bulbNo
Propagated by containerNo
Propagated by cormNo
Propagated by cuttingsNo
Propagated by seedYes
Propagated by sodNo
Propagated by sprigsNo
Propagated by tubersNo
Raunkiær life formtherophyte
Resprout abilityNo
Seed spread rateSlow
Seedling vigorMedium
Vegetative spread rateNone
Diet & foraging1
Parasiteindependent
Habitat & environment29
Active growth periodSpring, Summer, Fall
Adapted to coarse textured soilsNo
Adapted to fine textured soilsYes
Adapted to medium textured soilsYes
Aquaticaquatic
BloatNone
Climatetemperate
Climberself-supporting
Elevation max4 100 m
Elevation min0 m
Epiphyteterrestrial
Foliage colorGreen
Foliage porosity summerPorous
Foliage porosity winterPorous
Foliage textureMedium
Fruit colourbrown
Fruit typeachene
Growth formherb
Growth form USDABunch
Habitat GIFTVegetação Aquática
Hedge toleranceNone
Known allelopathNo
Leaf retentionNo
Leaf shapelinear terete
Low growing grassNo
Root depth min8 in
Shape and orientationSemi-Erect
Small grainNo
Woodinessnon-woody
Physiology & chemistry19
Anaerobic toleranceHigh
C:N ratioMedium
Caco3 toleranceMedium
Cold stratification requiredNo
Drought toleranceNone
Fertility requirementMedium
Fire resistantNo
Fire toleranceHigh
Frost free days min150 days
Moisture useHigh
Nitrogen fixation levelNone
Nitrogen fixingnon_nitrogen_fixer
Precipitation max45 in
Precipitation min14 in
Salinity toleranceMedium
Shade toleranceLow
Soil pH max9 pH
Soil pH min6 pH
Temperature min52 °F
Uses & economy13
Berry nut seed productNo
Christmas tree productNo
Commercial availabilityNo Known Source
Fodder productNo
Lumber productNo
Naval store productNo
Nursery stock productNo
Palatable humanNo
Post productNo
Pulpwood productNo
Seeds per pound360 000 per lb
ToxicityNone
Veneer productNo
Other traits4
Fall conspicuousNo
Fruit seed abundanceLow
Fruit seed conspicuousNo
Fruit seed persistenceNo
05DNA & barcoding15 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Triglochin scilloides has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens15
Marker genes5
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections8
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK3★rbcL4★rbcLa★ITS3★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualTriglochin scilloides carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin26 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type771 records
Wild obs. + sensor383
Museum / vouchered388
Origin
Introduced133
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO1 808 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy81% within 1 km
≤100 m 213≤1 km 32≤10 km 35>10 km 22
302 georeferenced · 81 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor383
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy59% within 1 km
≤100 m 29≤1 km 96≤10 km 85>10 km 2
212 georeferenced · 176 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence388
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions36 of 48 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
San Diego, US
78
Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record
38
Davis, US
35
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
34
San Luis Obispo, US
26
Corvallis, US
21
US
17
WTUlocation not on record
16
Bronx, US
12
Ann Arbor, US
11
Guasave, MX
10
Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record
9
Córdoba, AR
7
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
6
Santa Cruz, US
5
Riverside, US
5
Canberra, AU
4
Adelaide, AU
4
Long Beach, US
4
Mount Annan, AU
4
Arcata, US
3
Santa Barbara, US
2
Brisbane, AU
2
Pullman, US
2
Montréal, CA
2
Chicago, US
1
Turku, FI
1
Moscow State Universitylocation not on record
1
Canadian Museum of Nature, National Herbarium of Canadalocation not on record
1
Provo, US
1
Northridge, US
1
Mexico City, MX
1
Anchorage, US
1
EL PASO, US
1
Université Lavallocation not on record
1
Nantes Culture Collectionlocation not on record
1
Saint Louis, US
1
Los Angeles, US
1
Hobart, AU
1
Irvine, US
1
MEXUlocation not on record
1
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ)location not on record
1
Corrientes, AR
1
La Trobe Universitylocation not on record
1
Stockholm, SE
1
Vancouver, CA
1
Pocatello, US
1
Kew, GB
1
48 institutions · 380 of 388 vouchered records shown · 8 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA8 detections
Where the DNA of Triglochin scilloides was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found8
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 8 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
Web mud, field pot-hole in wheat field, a fe…Field pothole on till soil, corner of a peaf…Phenology=FLwith Eleocharis acicularis carpet, Alisma pl…
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median18.1 °C 18.1–18.1
Seasonal swing summer↔winter28.0 °C
Max temp (day)25.5 °C
Min temp (night)13.1 °C
Precipitation38.8 mm/mo
Air humidity52.3 %
Moisture balance-101 mm/mo
Vapour deficit997 Pa
Wind speed3.80 m/s
Cloud cover32.6 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 1 detection point · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.