Erect aquatic with long, slender rhizomes; lvs phyllodial, nodose, terete, attenuate, 3–20 cm, occasionally with a small blade; scape 1–8 dm; fls in 2–4 whorls, the upper staminate, the lower pistillate, both on slender, ascending-spreading pedicels 1–3 cm, usually only 1 or 2 fruiting; bracts small, ovate, 2–3 mm, connate nearly or fully throughout; sep ovate, obtuse, 3–5 mm, reflexed in fr; pet 3–6 mm; stamens 12–15; filaments dilated, roughened with minute scales; achenes 2–3 mm, with 1–3 prominent wings on each face, these and the dorsal wing crenulate; beak erect to horizontal, 0.3–0.4 mm; 2n=22. On sandy soil in shallow, acid water from Mass. to N.Y., often with no. 4 [Sagittaria engelmanniana J. G. Sm.. Aug., Sept.