Proserpinaca palustrisL.

marsh mermaidweed

WFO wfo-0001065210 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Proserpinaca palustris, photographed by Ryan Sorrells
fig. a Ryan Sorrells, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205630556
Proserpinaca palustris, photographed by Leila Dasher
fig. b Leila Dasher, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196995433
Proserpinaca palustris, photographed by Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）
fig. c Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 186513200
Proserpinaca palustris, photographed by Katie Kucera
fig. d Katie Kucera, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 170747317
Proserpinaca palustris, photographed by Brian Finzel
fig. e Brian Finzel, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 174501113
Proserpinaca palustris, photographed by Katie Kucera
fig. f Katie Kucera, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 154231630
Proserpinaca palustris, photographed by John Abrams
fig. g John Abrams, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 123656908
Proserpinaca palustris, photographed by Dan Johnson
fig. h Dan Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 102659975

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.

Native range 48 botanical countries

Regions where Proserpinaca palustris is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil South, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Uruguay AlabamaArkansasConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico GulfMexico SoutheastMichiganMinnesotaMississippiNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaNova ScotiaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaQuébecSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsinBrazil SouthColombiaCubaEl SalvadorGuatemalaJamaicaUruguay DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.BahamasBermuda
Native distribution of Proserpinaca 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
Arkansas ARK
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Southeast MXT
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Bahamas BAH SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bermuda BER
Brazil South BZS
Colombia CLM
Cuba CUB
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Jamaica JAM
Uruguay URU

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.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,104 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -11.7 °C -5.0 °C 16.1 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 22.2 °C 28.1 °C 33.4 °C
Annual rainfall 882 mm 1,219 mm 1,577 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 134 mm 212 mm 322 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 1,104 research-grade observations of Proserpinaca 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.

Also published as 8 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.

  • Proserpinaca amblygona (Fernald) Small
  • Proserpinaca heterophyla Raf.
  • Proserpinaca palustris var. amblyogona Fernald
  • Proserpinaca palustris var. crebra Fernald & Griscom
  • Proserpinaca palustris var. palustris
  • Proserpinaca platycarpa Small
  • Proserpinaca serrata Raf.
  • Proserpinaca tuberculata Raf.

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. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. 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.