For a photo taken through coloured water with detritus floating in between the camera and the plant, this is a remarkably clear image of a plant which normally lives submerged in shallow fresh water. There was only one plant to be found on our expedition and according to Stace, if you were to bring the plant out of water the leaves would fold together as, unlike Isoetes lacustris (Quillwort) which has stiff leaves, these are flaccid. The seeds (megaspores) have spines hence the "echinospora" species name.

The distribution of this rare plant is distinctly western with a few colonies on the south coast of England, a fair number in west Wales and western Ireland but the majority of British sites are in north west Scotland.

Little Sea, Near Studland, Dorset, 4th September 2010

Added on 6th September 2010