Heteranthera limosa

Mud plantain

Nonnative to Florida

Species Overview

Native to: Central United States south to Mexico

Mud plantain inhabits shallow waters, pond edges and roadside ditches. It is considered non-native in Florida and California but native to the central US and is listed as a species of special concern in Kentucky, and as a threatened species in Minnesota and Tennessee.

Species Characteristics

Family: Pontederiaceae

Habit: Herbaceous aquatic annual.

Leaves: Simple and mostly basal, narrowly oblong or narrowly to broadly egg-shaped with a blunt point at the tip, wedge-shaped to rounded to straight across at the base, 3/8 to 2½ inches long, ¼ to 1¼ inches wide. Submersed leaves are mostly stalkless, emersed leaves have sheathed stalks up to 5 inches long and may rise above the water or float on the surface.

Flowers: A single blue-violet to white flower is born at the tip of a sheathed stalk. Flowers are up to about 1 inch across, tubular with 6 narrowly elliptic lobes, the upper 3 lobes yellow at the base.

Fruit/Seeds: Cylindrical capsule containing oblong, narrowly winged, brown seeds.

Distribution in Florida: Vouchered in 9 counties of peninsular Florida.

Impacts

Undocumented.

Learn more about this species

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Plant Database

Flora of North America

Atlas of Florida Plants

EDDMapS

USDA Plant Database