A low, hairless plant with creeping and rooting runners. Leaves in basal clusters, linear oblong to elliptical, often broader above the middle, untoothed and rather fleshy. Flowers white, often marked with pink, 3 mm, bell shaped, 5 lobed, solitary.

Records from this species should be confirmed by a County Recorder for botany.  It is on the VC55 Rare Plant Register, and therefore a specimen should not be taken.  Take detailed field photos and submit to NatureSpot as soon as possible; and if you think you have found it in a new location, inform the County Recorder as soon you can. (RPR)

Muddy margins of lakes and reservoirs.

Flowers July to October.

Annual, sometimes perennial.

Nationally scarce

Rare in Leicestershire and Rutland; most records from Rutland Water, where it is threatened by an invasive non-native species

In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi and Evans 1988) it was found in 2 of the 617 tetrads, and in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger 1971) in 1 tetrad.

It is listed on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward 2022) as Locally Rare (i.e. present in less than 3 sites)