Yellow floating heart is a vigorous herbaceous perennial water plant in the Menyanthaceae family native to East Asia and the Mediterranean. Its leaves float on bodies of water and resemble a small water lily. This rhizomatous aquatic plant can be very aggressive. It grows in 12 to 24 inches of water in the full sun. It prefers high organic content sandy loam soil, like a river bed or bottom of a pond. Plants spread by underwater stems (runners) and can be divided easily that way though it propagates by seed as well. They overwinter in cold areas at the bottom of bodies of water similar to water lilies. During summer, star-shaped, bright yellow flowers with fringed petals appear for one day on stalks above the leaves. The leaves are round and 4 inches across, floating on the water. The plant is officially designated as a Class A Noxious Weed by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) due to its highly aggressive and invasive nature in freshwater ecosystems. Therefore, it is illegal to buy or sell this plant in NC and some other states. See some native alternatives listed to the left. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: This is a class A noxious weed in North Carolina. Report any sightings immediately to the NCDA Plant Protection Section at 1-800-206-9333.
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)
Soil texture
High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil drainage
Frequent Standing Water
Available space
12 inches-3 feet
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 4 in. - 0 ft. 6 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 3 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
High
Canopy layer
5 - Groundcover (<1 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Prostrate; Spreading
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Other/more complex
Leaf shape
Orbicular; Ovate
Leaf margin
Dentate
Leaf size
3-6 inches long, 3-6 inches wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Round, to ovate, to heart-shaped 4" leaves slightly dentate, glossy leaves
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Head
Flower shape
Star
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Appearing in summer and lasting only one day. Star-shaped bright yellow 3/4" flowers with a 5-lobed corolla that has papery texture. They bloom on long stalks above the leaves. Lobes are fringed.