Megalodonta beckii (Torr. ex Spreng.) Greene | Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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TAXONOMY | |||||||||
Family: | Asteraceae or Compositae | ||||||||
Genus: | Megalodonta | ||||||||
Species Synonyms: | Bidens beckii Torr. ex Spreng. | ||||||||
Common Names: | water marigold Beck’s watermarigold Beck’s beggarticks |
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DISTRIBUTION | |||||||||
Canada: | southern British Columbia, central Saskatchewan – Nova Scotia | ||||||||
Saskatchewan: | central Saskatchewan; Little Amyot Lake – Cumberland Delta – Little Swan River | ||||||||
Ecoregion: | Boreal Transition, Mid-Boreal Upland, Churchill River Upland | ||||||||
HABITAT | |||||||||
Saskatchewan: | in calm water up to 30 to 90 cm deep | ||||||||
Associated Species: | Canada waterweed, common bladderwort, sago pondweed, star duckweed | ||||||||
RARITY STATUS | |||||||||
Provincial
Status According to Harms (2003): |
Threatened |
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Nature Conservancy Status: | G4G5T4 S1S2 |
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Saskatchewan
Species at Risk Status: |
None |
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COSEWIC Status: | None |
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Water marigold is threatened because it is regionally restricted in the province. No immediate threats are known at this time. | |||||||||
SPECIES DESCRIPTION | |||||||||
Growth Habit: | aquatic | ||||||||
Roots: | fibrous | ||||||||
Stems: | limp, green to black or reddish | ||||||||
Leaves: | submerged leaves opposite, 3 – 4 cm long, 3 – 4 cm wide, deeply thread-lie and dissected; leaves on water opposite, to 2 cm long, to 1 cm wide, oval to lance-shaped, base wedge-shaped, tip obtuse to tapered, hairless, margin saw-toothed | ||||||||
Inflorescence: | heads solitary (2), terminal, to 1 cm wide; stalks 20 – 100 cm long; bracts 7 – 8, 7 – 10 mm long, oval, green | ||||||||
Flowers: | ray flowers 5 – 8, 10 – 15 mm long, oblong to spoon-shaped, conspicuously nerved, yellow; disc flowers 10 – 30, 5 – 6 mm long, pale yellow | ||||||||
Fruits: | achenes cylindrical, yellowish to greenish brown; pappus or 3 – 6 awns, 13 – 25 mm long barbed, longer than achene | ||||||||
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