Hydrocotyle americana (HY-droh-klees a-mer-ih-KAY-nah)
Family: AraliaceaeNativeHerbaceous
HerbaceousNative
Water Pennywort is a small creeping native plant that typically grows in moist areas such as bogs, seeps, boggy fields, wet woods, and lake margins. It is found in eastern North America from Canada to SC and in NC it is found in the western Appalachian mountains. The plant spreads by stolons that root along the ground and produce small tubers. This plant requires cool summer temperatures and moist to wet conditions. It can be grown in sun to partial shade in 1-gallon pots with up to 2 in. of water over the crown or in bogs or around streams or ponds.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil drainage
Frequent Standing Water | Occasionally Wet
NC region
Mountains
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Creeping
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf shape
Orbicular
Leaf margin
Lobed
Leaf size
1-3 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Leaves are round to kidney-shaped, ¼ to 2¼ inches wide, with 6 to 10 shallowly toothed, shallow lobes around the edge, on a sparsely hairy stalk up to 2 inches long. Stem attaches near the center of the leaf.
Flower color
White
Flower form
Insignificant; Umbel
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Inconspicuous white flowers below the leaves in the axils. 5 petals and 5 stamens 1.8 inch orsmaller. Blooms June to September
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit color
Brown/Copper; Green
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit detail
Fruit is tiny, dry, flattened, and circular, containing two seeds that split apart.
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
Stems are hairless, slender and creep along the ground, rooting at the nodes
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
East Canada to North Central & Eastern U.S.A
Distribution
AR , CT , DC , DE , IN , KY , MA , MD , ME , MI , MN , NC , NH , NJ , NY , OH , PA , RI , SC , TN , VA , VT , WI , WV Canada: NB , NL , NS , PE