| Author | R. Brown | |
| Distribution | Limited only to the northern coast, in Currituck and far northern Dare counties. Not surprisingly, this is the southern end of the species' range. The most recent collections are 1979, but there is an unconfirmed sight record from 2006 in Dare County at Jockey's Ridge SP.
This species is primarily coastal, limited to the Northeastern part of the continent. It ranges along the coast to northeastern NC, though it does occur well inland in ME and NY.
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| Abundance | Rare, but can be locally common to abundant in a small area, south to Jockeys Ridge State Park. Several records from vegetation plots farther south in Dare County, even toward Cape Hatteras, cannot be taken as confirmation. This is a State Threatened species. | |
| Habitat | This species grows in large patches on tidal mudflats, in brackish or tidal fresh water. |
| Phenology | Blooms mainly in June, rarely to September, and fruits shortly after flowering. | |
| Identification | This is one of the smallest of all NC flowering plants, and is very easily overlooked. It has short, grass-like leaves, about 5-10 in a clump, each only about 1.5 inches long and linear. From this base grow several flowers, on slender and short stalks only about 1-inch tall, topped by a single very small flower that is barely 1/8-inch long, with 5 white petals that spread at the tip. Not surprisingly, growing in a tidal habitat, the leaves are fleshy and a bit succulent, though still very narrow. Without the flowers, it would very difficult to know what family or genus of plant you are looking at; even if you see the flowers, you still might not know, unless you are aware to be looking for this rare plant on tidal flats in Currituck and northern Dare counties. Needless to say, as this is the only species in the genus in this part of the U.S., you need to study photographs, specimens, or drawings carefully before you venture out to look for this "belly plant". | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Our plants were formerly treated as L. subulata.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Awl-leaf, Awl-leaf Mudwort | |
| State Rank | S1 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | T | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | OBL link |
| USACE-emp | OBL link |
