Water Purslane

(Ludwigia palustris)

 

   

 

 

Color Drawing: G.C. Oeder et al., 1761-1874. Flora Danica.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Water Purslane (Ludwigia palustris [L.] Ell.)

Identification: Plant aquatic, either floating on the water, or creeping along mud flats. Flowers small, without petals or only rudimentary petals. Sepals well developed giving the flower a green, star-shaped appearance. Flowers tucked in the leaf axils. Stem reddish, prostrate. Leaves ovate, tapering toward to the apex and base, common with red veins or suffused with red.

Distribution: Throughout most of North America. Also widely distributed in the Old World, the West Indies, and Mexico.

Habitat: Water Purslane is an aquatic plant of shores or other forms of shallow water.

Flowering period: June to September.

Similar Species: The aquatic habitat, the 5 pointed, small, green flowers tucked in the leaf axils, and the red stems will usually identify this species.

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