Ludwigia palustris(L.) Elliott

marsh seedbox

WFO wfo-1000070656 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Ludwigia palustris, photographed by Jody Shugart
fig. a Jody Shugart, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-05 / obs. 196068486

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
02531750
Filed as
Ludwigia palustris (L.) Elliott
Det. by
R. F. C. Naczi 2016-01-01
Collected
S. A. Mori 2014-08-07
Origin
US
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 103 botanical countries

Regions where Ludwigia palustris is native: Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Cape Provinces, DR Congo, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Morocco, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Iran, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Venezuela AlgeriaAngolaBotswanaCape ProvincesDR CongoKwaZulu-NatalLesothoMoroccoNamibiaNorthern ProvincesTunisiaZambiaZimbabweIranLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeAlbaniaAustriaBelgiumBulgariaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyNetherlandsNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSpainSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraineAlabamaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriNebraskaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNova ScotiaOhioOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaQuébecSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicGuatemalaHaitiJamaicaPuerto RicoVenezuela SardegnaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Ludwigia palustris, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Netherlands NET
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Angola ANG
Botswana BOT
Cape Provinces CPP
DR Congo ZAI
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Lesotho LES
Morocco MOR
Namibia NAM
Northern Provinces TVL
Tunisia TUN
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Colombia CLM SOUTHERN AMERICA
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Jamaica JAM
Puerto Rico PUE
Venezuela VEN
Iran IRN ASIA-TEMPERATE
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 93 in flower of 270 examined

Proportion of examined Ludwigia palustris in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 9 17 53% 31% to 74%
Feb 7 11 64% 35% to 85%
Mar 2 14 14% 4% to 40%
Apr 3 13 23% 8% to 50%
May 4 22 18% 7% to 39%
Jun 10 33 30% 17% to 47%
Jul 16 32 50% 34% to 66%
Aug 20 42 48% 33% to 62%
Sep 19 47 40% 28% to 55%
Oct 1 28 4% 1% to 18%
Nov 0 8 0% 0% to 32%
Dec 2 3 too few examined

Peak flowering in Feb. Each bar is the share of Ludwigia palustris observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 93 of 270 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. One month has fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for it. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,978 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -13.6 °C -3.7 °C 10.0 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 20.8 °C 27.2 °C 32.8 °C
Annual rainfall 841 mm 1,183 mm 1,718 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 99 mm 236 mm 333 mm

It is found where winters bring hard frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,978 research-grade observations of Ludwigia palustris that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one. Climate from CHELSA V2.1 (Karger et al. 2017); occurrences from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 20 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Dantia palustris Des Moul.
  • Isnardia ascendens Hall ex Eaton & Wright
  • Isnardia nitida Poir.
  • Isnardia palustris L.
  • Isnardia palustris f. submersa Glück
  • Isnardia palustris var. americana DC.
  • Isnardia palustris var. riparia Boenn.
  • Isnardia palustris var. rivularis Boenn.
  • Jussiaea isnardia E.H.L.Krause
  • Ludwigia apetala Walter
  • Ludwigia nitida Michx.
  • Ludwigia palustris f. elongata Fassett
  • Ludwigia palustris f. submersa Eames
  • Ludwigia palustris var. americana (DC.) Fernald & Griscom
  • Ludwigia palustris var. inundata Svenson
  • Ludwigia palustris var. liebmannii H.Lév.
  • Ludwigia palustris var. nana Fernald & Griscom
  • Ludwigia palustris var. pacifica Fernald & Griscom
  • Ludwigia palustris var. typica Fernald & Griscom
  • Quadricosta palustris Dulac

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol LUPA. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.