Sunday 19 May
Bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata)
What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.Bogbean fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Bogbean description
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Phylum | Anthophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Solanales |
| Family | Menyanthaeae |
| Genus | Menyanthes (1) |
Bogbean is an aquatic or bog plant, hence the common name (2). The ‘bean’ part of the name refers to the smooth-edged shiny leaves, which are roughly similar in appearance to those of young broad beans (4). Each leaf is divided into three leaflets, hence the specific part of the Latin name, trifoliata, meaning ‘three leaves’. The leaves and flowers are typically raised above the surface of the water, arising from creeping root-like storage organs known as ‘rhizomes’ (2). The smooth flower stalk can grow to 30 cm. It bears numerous white delicate, feathery, and star-like flowers which have a pinkish flush on the outside of the petals (2). The alternative common name ‘bog hop’ arose from the use of the leaves as a flavouring in beer-making (5).
- Also known as
- bog hop, buckbean.
- Dune slacks
- Depressions between sand dunes that are often wet during the winter.
- Perennial
- Plants that live for at least three seasons; after an initial period they produce flowers once a year
- Rhizomes
- Rhizomes are thickened, branching, creeping storage stems. Although most rhizomes grow laterally just along or slightly below the soil's surface, some grow several inches deep. Roots grow from the underside of the rhizome, and during the growing season new growth sprouts from buds along the top. A familiar rhizome is the ginger used in cooking.
- National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary (September 2003): http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nbn/
- Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G., and Moore, D.M. (1987) Flora of the British Isles 3rd Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
- Preston, C.D., Pearman, D.A. and Dines, T.D. (2002) New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Mabey, R. (1996) Flora Britannica. Sinclair-Stevenson, London.
- Grigson, G. (1996) The Englishmans Flora. Helicon Publishing, Ltd., Oxford.
- Botanical.com (December 2003): http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/bogbea63.html
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
More »
Top
Related species
Bogbean biology
Bogbean is a perennial plant, that flowers from May to July (6). The flowers are pollinated by various insects (2).
Both the leaves and the root have a bitter taste, and were once used to treat jaundice and rheumatism. The leaves were used to flavour beer instead of hops in northern England and parts of Europe (5).
TopBogbean range
This native plant is fairly common throughout Britain, reaching altitude of 915 meters (2). It has decreased in range in parts of the south east of England, mainly as a result of the large-scale drainage of wetlands that has occurred (3). Bogbean is found throughout most of Europe but becomes rare in the Mediterranean area. It also occurs in north and central Asia, Morocco, Greenland and North America (2).
More »
Species with a similar range
|
You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Bogbean habitat
Grows at the shallow margins of lakes, slow-flowing rivers, ponds, bogs and dune slacks. It cannot live in shade (3).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Bogbean status
Common and widespread. Not threatened (3).
TopBogbean threats
This species is not threatened at present, however drainage of wetlands has caused a marked decrease in this species in south-east England (3).
TopBogbean conservation
Conservation action is not required for this common species
|
|
There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Find out more
For more on British native plants and for details of how to get involved in plant conservation visit the website of Plantlife, the wild plant charity:
www.plantlife.org.uk
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact: arkive@wildscreen.org.ukTopGlossary
References
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
Saturday 18 May
Friday 17 May
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Bogbean
© Geoff Dore / naturepl.com
Nature Picture Library
5a Great George Street
Bristol
BS1 5RR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 117 911 4675
Fax: +44 (0) 117 911 4699
info@naturepl.com
http://www.naturepl.com
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.