1. Ellisia nyctelea (L.) L. (Aunt Lucy, waterpod, nyctelea)

Pl. 428 a–c; Map 1912

Plants annual, with slender taproots. Stems 5–40 cm long, spreading to loosely ascending or ascending from a spreading base, usually sparsely pubescent with stiff, straight, spreading to downward-angled, somewhat pustular-based hairs, occasionally also with sparse, fine curved, softer hairs. Basal leaves often withered at flowering, similar to the lower stem leaves. Stem leaves mostly alternate (often opposite toward the stem base), the petiole mostly shorter than the blade, stiffly hairy toward the base. Leaf blades 2–6 cm long, oblong-elliptic in outline, deeply pinnately lobed (rachis narrowly winged); the pinnae 7–13, mostly narrowly oblong, entire or more commonly with 1–3 pairs of coarse teeth or triangular lobes, angled or tapered to a sharply pointed tip, truncate and attached broadly at the base, the surfaces sparsely to moderately pubescent with stiff, straight, somewhat pustular-based hairs, sometimes only along the veins, the upper surface not appearing mottled. Inflorescences of solitary flowers at the nodes (occasionally also appearing paired at the branch tips), these usually positioned opposite the leaf, occasionally axillary, the flower stalks 5–10 mm long at flowering, becoming elongated to 2–6 cm at fruiting, stiffly hairy. Calyces 4–6 mm long at flowering, becoming enlarged to 7–10 mm at fruiting, lacking appendages, the lobes narrowly triangular (becoming broader at fruiting), sharply pointed at the tip, the surfaces and margins sparsely to moderately and stiffly hairy. Corollas 5–8 mm long, narrowly bell-shaped to nearly funnel-shaped, white, often pale pinkish- or bluish-tinged, occasionally with blue spots. Stamens not exserted, the filaments attached at the base of the corolla tube, glabrous or nearly so, each with a pair of minute scales at the base. Ovary 1-locular, the placenta-bearing portions of the wall not intruding into the locule. Style not exserted, divided to about the midpoint. Fruits 5–6 mm long, globose, sparsely to moderately hairy, at least toward the tip, mostly 4-seeded. Seeds 2–3 mm long, globose, the surface with a fine network of ridges, dark brown. 2n=20. April–June.

Scattered nearly throughout the state, but apparently absent from most of the Mississippi Lowlands Division (Massachusetts to Idaho south to Virginia, Texas, and Nevada; Canada). Bottomland forests, mesic upland forests in ravines, bases and ledges of bluffs, and banks of streams and rivers; also crop fields, gardens, roadsides, and moist, shaded, disturbed areas.