
quillworts
Isoetes
Isoetes, commonly known as the quillworts, is a genus of plants in the class Isoetopsida and order Isoetales. They are lycopods and the only genus in Isoetaceae. There are currently 192 recognized species, with a cosmopolitan distribution but often scarce to rare. Some botanists split the genus, separating two South American species into the genus Stylites, although molecular data place these species among other species of Isoetes, so Stylites does not warrant taxonomic recognition.
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first

spiny-spored quillwort
speciesIsoetes echinospora

Nuttall's quillwort
speciesIsoetes nuttallii

lake quillwort
speciesIsoetes lacustris
Blackfoot quillwort
speciesIsoetes melanopoda

Durieu's quillwort
speciesIsoetes durieui

Land Quillwort
speciesIsoetes histrix
Butler's quillwort
speciesIsoetes butleri

Orcutt's Quillwort
speciesIsoetes orcuttii

Bolander's quillwort
speciesIsoetes bolanderi

Howell's quillwort
speciesIsoetes howellii

Taiwan Quillwort
speciesIsoetes taiwanensis

Black-spored Quillwort
speciesIsoetes melanospora

Engelmann's quillwort
speciesIsoetes engelmannii

rock quillwort
speciesIsoetes lithophila

Stellenbosch Quillwort
speciesIsoetes stellenbossiensis

Veiled Quillwort
speciesIsoetes longissima

Isoetes novogranadensis
speciesIsoetes novogranadensis

Alpine Quillwort
speciesIsoetes alpina

Strong Quillwort
speciesIsoetes valida

Piedmont Quillwort
speciesIsoetes piedmontana

western quillwort
speciesIsoetes occidentalis

Piedmont Quillwort
speciesIsoetes malinverniana

Tuckerman's quillwort
speciesIsoetes tuckermanii

St. Lawrence Quillwort
speciesIsoetes laurentiana

spiny-spore quillwort
speciesIsoetes tenella

Columbia Quillwort
speciesIsoetes minima

Mat-forming Quillwort
speciesIsoetes tegetiformans

maritime quillwort
speciesIsoetes maritima

Iberian Quillwort
speciesIsoetes delilei

Cape Quillwort
speciesIsoetes capensis

Isoetes storkii
speciesIsoetes storkii

Texas Quillwort
speciesIsoetes texana

Stout Quillwort
speciesIsoetes gunnii

Louisiana Quillwort
speciesIsoetes louisianensis

Isoetes asiatica
speciesIsoetes asiatica

Isoetes andicola
speciesIsoetes andicola

northern quillwort
speciesIsoetes septentrionalis

Winter Quillwort
speciesIsoetes hyemalis

Tennessee quillwort
speciesIsoetes tennesseensis

Azorean Quillwort
speciesIsoetes azorica

southern quillwort
speciesIsoetes flaccida

Isoetes sinensis
speciesIsoetes sinensis

Drummond's quillwort
speciesIsoetes drummondii

Victory Quillwort
speciesIsoetes stephanseniae

Isoetes kirkii
speciesIsoetes kirkii

Isoetes delalandei
speciesIsoetes delalandei

Appalachian quillwort
speciesIsoetes appalachiana

Isoetes microvela
speciesIsoetes microvela

Isoetes japonica
speciesIsoetes japonica

prototype quillwort
speciesIsoetes prototypus

Isoetes setacea
speciesIsoetes setacea

Small Quillwort
speciesIsoetes pusilla

Isoetes andina
speciesIsoetes andina

Flat Rock Quillwort
speciesIsoetes graniticola

Isoetes coromandelina
speciesIsoetes coromandelina

River Quillwort
speciesIsoetes fluitans

Isoetes brasiliensis
speciesIsoetes brasiliensis

Phrygian Quillwort
speciesIsoetes phrygia

Lechler's Quillwort
speciesIsoetes lechleri

Big-spore Quillwort
speciesIsoetes macrospora
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Isoetes in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 60115.