Ceratophyllum echinatum , commonly called Spineless Hornwort, is an aquatic perennial plant

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 of the family Ceratophyllum

Ceratophyllum

Ceratophyllum is a cosmopolitan genus of flowering plants, commonly found in ponds, marshes, and quiet streams in tropical and in temperate regions...

. It can be found in ponds and lakes. It is principally an eastern North American species and the only species of its genus endemic to North America.

Description

Ceratophyllum echinatum is an aquatic herb. The spineless hornwort usually does not have any roots with stems that are freely branching (0.3-4.0 m long). The leaves are submerged and they are usually in whorls of 5 -12. Its flower does not have any petals but have sepals (3-15) that are sometimes mistaken for petals. The flower is tiny, could be male or female, and contains about 12- 16 stamens. It blooms from February to July Its fruits have dry seeds with a lot of spines and a rough surface

Distribution

Ceratophyllum echinatum can be found in the US(AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV) and also in some parts of Canada (BC, MB, NB, NS, ON, QC)

Economic value

It is often used in aquariums because of the way they look, its high oxygen production, and its ability to minimize the blue-green algae growth.

Threatened and Endangered Information

The Commons names are from the federal and the state lists.

• Maine: Prickly Hornwort - Special Concern
• Maryland : Prickyly hornwort - Endangered
• New Jersey: Spiny Coontail - Endangered
• New York: Prickly Hornwort - Threatened
• Tennessee: Pricky Hornwort - Special Concern

Origin of the name

Ceratophyllum comes fron the Greek keras, "a horn," and phyllon,"leaf," which means alluding to the stiff and narrow leaf divisions. Echinatum comes from echinus which means "sea-urchin or hegdehog" therefore its called "spiny"