Prototype quillwort

Plants aquatic, submerged. Rootstock nearly globose, 2-lobed. Leaves evergreen, dark green, pale reddish brown toward base, spirally arranged, to 12 cm, rigid, gradually tapering to tip. Velum covering entire sporangium. Sporangium wall unpigmented, entirely enclosed in translucent saccate membrane. Megaspores white, 425--575 µm diam., obscurely rugulate with molded and wavy ridges; girdle obscure. Microspores light brown in mass, 24--32 µm, spinulose. 2n = 22.

Spores mature in summer. Deep water of cold, oligotrophic, acidic lakes; of conservation concern; N.B., N.S.; Maine.