Nymphoides cordata (Elliott) Fernald - Little Floating Heart


 

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Nymphoides cordata - (image 1 of 4)

 

Taxonomy

Family: Menyanthaceae

Habitat

Quiet water.

Associates

 

Distribution

Newfoundland and Quebec to Ontario, south to CT and NY, locally along the coastal plain to FL and LA.

Morphology

Rhizomatous aquatic herb; stems often elongate, green, very slender, less than 1 mm thick near the summit; leaves broadly ovate, deeply cordate, 3-7 cm; functionally dioecious, some flowers usually replaced by spur-like tuberous-thickened roots; calyx lobes at anthesis 2-3 mm, in fruit extending well beyond the middle of the capsule; corollas 5-8 mm, white or cream, with a crest-like yellow gland at the base of each lobe; anthers about 1 cm or less; fruit 4-5 mm, not beaked; seeds smooth or sparsely papillate.

Notes

Flowers July to September

Wetland indicator: OBL

Leaves resemble a tiny water lily. A species with larger flowers, N. aquatica (Walter) Kunzte, occurs on the coastal plain from southern NJ to FL and TX.

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

 


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 Michael Hough © 2018