Isoetaceae

Lake quillwort

Isoetes lacustris L.

Family: Isoetaceae
Genus: Isoetes

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Lake quillwort (Isoetes lacustris) — Photo: Brandon Corder, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (22)

Arabic: متسانية البحيرات
arz: اسويط بحيرى
Belarusian: Палушнік азёрны
Bulgarian: Езерен шилолист
Czech: Šídlatka jezerní
Danish: Sortgrøn brasenføde
Dutch: Grote biesvaren
English: Lake quillwort
Estonian: Järv-lahnarohi, Järvlahnarohi
Faroese: Vatnaoknagras
Finnish: Tummalahnanruoho
French: Isoète lacustre
frr: Isoetes
German: See-Brachsenkraut, Gewöhnliches Brachsenkraut, Seebrachsenkraut
Icelandic: Vatnalaukur
Lithuanian: Ežerinė slepišerė
Persian: ایستس لاکستریس
Polish: Poryblin jeziorny
Russian: Полушник озёрный
Ukrainian: Молодильник озерний
vep: Rumenchein
Welsh: Gwair merllyn

Synonyms

Calamaria lacustris (L.) Kuntze
Calamaria setacea (Lam.) Kuntze
Isoetes atrovirens Th.Fr.
Isoetes hieroglyphica A.A.Eaton
Isoetes lacustris subsp. abbreviata Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. arvernensis Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. cambrica Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. editorum Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. errabunda Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. hieroglyphica (A.A.Eaton) Taylor & Luebke
Isoetes lacustris subsp. lacustris Hook.f.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. lamottei Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. langei Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. latifolia Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. noltei Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. obscura Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. pervaga Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. rivalis Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. rossica Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. scanica Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. scotica Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. septentrionalis Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. spreta Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. succedanea Gand.
Isoetes lacustris subsp. suecica Gand.
Isoetes lacustris unranked vergens Gand.
Isoetes lacustris var. curvifolia Casp.
Isoetes lacustris var. elatior Fliche
Isoetes lacustris var. falcata Gay
Isoetes lacustris var. falcatum Fliche
Isoetes lacustris var. fragilis Gray
Isoetes lacustris var. gracilis Gray
Isoetes lacustris var. humilior Motelay & Vendryès
Isoetes lacustris var. humilis Mer
Isoetes lacustris var. intermedia Mer
Isoetes lacustris var. lacustris
Isoetes lacustris var. leiospora Klinggr.
Isoetes lacustris var. minor Milde
Isoetes lacustris var. moorei (D.Moore) Hook.
Isoetes lacustris var. moorei (D.Moore) Syme & N.E.Br.

and 18 more.

Characteristics

Growth habit: Graminoid
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Canada: native, Greenland: native, Lower 48 states: native, St. Pierre and Miquelon: native

Photos

Photo: Brandon Corder, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Honymand, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Tim Johnson, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Javier martin, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Andrejus Gaidamavičius, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Alex Lomas, CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Игорь Васильев, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Daria Inozemtseva, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Valerii Glazunov, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Daria Inozemtseva, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Nicola Crockford, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Valerii Glazunov, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Isoetes

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.