Creeping water primrose is an invasive aquatic plant in the primrose family native to Central and South America and is found along the margins of lakes, ponds, ditches, and streams. It has invaded waterways from NC south to FL, west to Texas and the Pacific coastal states. There are native Ludwigias that may be confused with this invasive plant. It is currently found throughout North Carolina and is listed as a Class B state noxious weed. This plant can form large mats that can grow 3 feet tall to shade out native plants and clog waterways. It has two stages of growth. It produces light green, floating stems early in the season with rosettes of smooth, shiny, rounded leaves. Later the stems become erect, reddish-brown, and produce more lance-shaped pointed leaves arranged alternately along the stems. Mid-summer through frost bright yellow flowers are produced in the leaf axils and produce many seeds. The stems grow up to 10 feet long and freely root at the nodes allowing the plant to spread vegetatively also.ses an herbb Control of this plant is by manual and mechanical removal, herbicides and Integrated Sequencing, which mechanically removes the bulk of the plant and is followed by a herbicide when new shoots appear. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: No significant problems. Class B noxious weed in North Carolina. Do not plant. See alternatives to the left.
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)
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
High
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Creeping; Multi-stemmed; Spreading
Texture
Medium
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate; Rosulate
Leaf shape
Lanceolate; Spatulate
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf size
3-6 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Hairs present
Yes
Leaf detail
Initially, the leaves are a rosette with roundish to spatulate leaves. Later the leaves become alternate and lance-shaped with pointed tips, are mostly sessile with a few hairs. They can be up to 4.5 inches long and 1 inch wide
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Long Bloom Season; Showy
Flower form
Solitary
Flower shape
Cup
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
Flowers are solitary, 1-2 inches wide, with five to six bright yellow petals. The petioles have hairs. Flowering occurs from mid to late summer until a killing frost
Bloom time
Fall; Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit size
1-3 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
The fruit is a pubescent, cylindric capsule up to 1.5 inches long with many seeds maturing in summer and fall
Stem color
Green; Red/Burgundy
Stem detail
Initially stems are green and floating. Upright stems become reddish with hairs.