Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Montana, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona, east across the northern Great Plains to the Great Lakes region and eastern North America.
Habitat: Fresh to slightly brackish water.
Flowers: April-August
Origin: Native
Growth Duration: Annual
Conservation Status: Not of concern
Pollination: Water
Monoecious, submersed annual, the slender, branching stems 3-6 dm. long and scarcely 1 mm. thick.
Leaves opposite, 1-3 cm. long and 0.5 mm. broad, the base expanded for 3-5 mm. and somewhat sheathing, the blade tapered almost from the base to a long, slender point.
Flowers tiny, in the axils of leaves clustered toward the branch tips; staminate flowers few, a single stamen enclosed in a transparent bract; pistillate flowers naked, the pistil 1, the stigmas 2-4, sessile, elongate.
Achene spindle-shaped, 3 mm. long, completely filled by the single seed.
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Najas flexilis in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
WA Flora Checklist: Najas flexilis checklist entry
OregonFlora: Najas flexilis information
E-Flora BC: Najas flexilis atlas page
CalPhotos: Najas flexilis photos