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Menyanthaceae: Menyanthes trifoliata L.
(buckbean, bogbean)

Buckbean is a rhizomatous, perennial wetland species common in quiet, shallow, waters of neutral to acidic pH. It has trifoliate leaves and a crowded racemose inflorescence with showy, bisexual, 5-parted, white or pink tinged, fringed flowers. The flowers have a rank smell that attracts flies and beetles. The fruit is a capsule containing shiny, yellowish-brown seeds. A circumboreal species broadly distributed in Canada and the U.S. except from New Mexico and Texas east to South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Sources | Selected Web Resources | Line Drawing

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June 9, 2005. Halifax County: Lawrencetown Lake area
Photographer: JackPine.
Menyanthes trifoliata , buckbean Menyanthes trifoliata , buckbean
Menyanthes trifoliata , buckbean Menyanthes trifoliata , buckbean

The flower is approximately 25 mm across.


Selected Web Resources