Plantaginaceae

Fourleaf mare's-tail

Hippuris tetraphylla L.f.

Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Hippuris

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Fourleaf mare's-tail (Hippuris tetraphylla) — FlowerPhoto: Vladimir Atachkin, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (6)

Chinese: 四叶杉叶藻
English: Fourleaf mare's-tail
Finnish: Nelilehtivesikuusi
Icelandic: Flæðalófótur
Norwegian Bokmål: Korshestehale
Swedish: Ishavshästsvans

Synonyms

Hippuris maritima Hell.
Hippuris tetraphylla f. tetraphylla
Hippuris vulgaris f. tetraphylla (L.f.) Lepage
Hippuris vulgaris var. maritima (Hell.) Hartm.

Flowers

In flower: July to August (from 6 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Alaska: native, Canada: native

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Vladimir Atachkin, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Hedwig Storch, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Laura Holloway, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Braden J. Judson, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Ragnhild&Neil Crawford from Sweden, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Laura Holloway, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Matt Muir, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Valerii Glazunov, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Валерия Ковалева, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Owen Strickland, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Валерия Ковалева, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Marc-Aurèle Vallée, CC0, from iNaturalist

More in Hippuris

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.