The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

false loosestrife, large-flower primrose-willow, primrose willow, six petal water primrose, Uruguayan primrose-willow, water primrose

globefruit primrose-willow, round-pod water-primrose

Habit Herbs, subshrubs, or emergent aquatics, adventitious roots sometimes forming a thick mass 10–23 cm at submerged nodes, sometimes woody at base, white pneumatophores 5–10 cm often on submerged stems. Herbs often with prominent aerenchyma when base submerged, forming stolons 20–90 cm, 2–3.5 mm thick, floating, sometimes branched.
Stems

floating or creeping and ascending to erect, terete, 20–200(–400) cm, simple to densely branched apically, glabrous (floating) or sparsely to densely villous (emergent), sometimes villous only on inflorescence.

erect, slightly ridged, well branched, (40–)60–110 cm, densely strigillose or glabrous.

Leaves

stipules ovate or deltate, 0.7–2 × 0.5–1.1 mm, not succulent, apex subacute, mucronate;

petiole flattened, 0.5–2(–2.5) cm;

blade narrowly oblanceolate, narrowly elliptic, or lanceolate to obovate or spatulate, (1.5–)4.2–10.7(–13.5) × (0.5–)0.8–3 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate or attenuate, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, rounded or truncate, sometimes mucronate, surfaces not shiny, usually glabrous, sometimes villous on petiole and veins or throughout;

bracts not reduced.

alternate;

stipules lanceolate-deltate, 0.1–0.4 × 0.1–0.2 mm;

stolons: petiole ± winged, 0.1–0.3 cm, blade narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate or spatulate, 0.9–3 × 0.4–0.8(–1.3) cm, base attenuate, margins subentire with hydathodal glands, apex acute or obtuse;

stems: petiole 0.1–0.4(–1) cm, blade narrowly elliptic or lanceolate to sublinear, on main stem (2.6–)6–10 × 0.5–1.1(–1.6) cm, on branches 2–5(–6) × 0.3–0.5(–0.6) cm, base attenuate or narrowly cuneate, margins entire with hydathodal glands mainly on primary cauline leaves, apex acute to very narrowly acute, surfaces glabrous or densely strigillose;

bracts not much reduced.

Inflorescences

emergent stems sometimes in leafy racemes, sometimes reflexed, flowers solitary in leaf axils;

bracteoles obovate to narrowly obovate, 1–1.8 × 0.7–0.8 mm, apex acute or acuminate, attached on distal 1/2 of pedicel or at ovary base.

open, leafy racemes, more congested on branches, flowers solitary in leaf axils;

bracteoles attached in subopposite pairs near base of ovary, usually linear to very narrowly lanceolate, rarely lanceolate, 0.5–1.5 × 0.1–0.3 mm, apex acuminate.

Flowers

sepals ovate-deltate or lanceolate-deltate, (8–)12–19 × 2–5 mm, chartaceous, margins entire, apex acuminate, surfaces ± densely villous;

petals bright yellow, sometimes with orange base, fan-shaped, (15–)20–30 × (12–)16–25 mm, apex emarginate or mucronate;

stamens 10(or 12), in 2 unequal series, yellow, filaments recurved, shorter ones (1.6–)2.3–5.2 mm, longer ones (3.1–)3.6–7.5 mm, anthers oblong, (1.2–)1.7–4 × 1–1.5 mm;

ovary subcylindric, terete, 10–18 × 2–3 mm, apex ± broadened, glabrous or sparsely to densely villous;

nectary disc slightly raised on ovary apex, yellowish green, 2–4 mm diam., lobed, glabrous or ringed with white hairs;

style yellow, 6–10 mm, glabrous, stigma subcapitate-globose, 0.5–1.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, often exserted beyond anthers.

sepals ascending, yellow or cream adaxially, ovate-deltate, 2–3.5(–4) × 1.6–3(–3.3) mm, margins entire, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrous or densely strigillose;

petals 0;

filaments yellow, 1–1.7 mm, slightly dilated toward base, anthers 0.5–0.8 × 0.4–0.7 mm;

pollen shed in tetrads;

ovary broadly obovoid or cup-shaped, 1.5–3.5 × 2–3 mm;

nectary disc elevated 0.4–0.6 mm on ovary apex, bright yellow, 1.5–3 mm diam., 4-lobed, glabrous or short-hirtellous between lobes;

style yellow, 0.6–1(–1.3) mm, glabrous or strigillose proximally, stigma yellow, capitate to subglobose, 0.3–0.5 × 0.4–0.7 mm, not exserted beyond anthers.

Capsules

cylindric or subclavate, terete, sometimes curved, (12–)16–24(–30)× 2.5–4 mm, with thick woody walls, irregularly and tardily dehiscent, pedicel (9–)13–25(–85) mm.

sometimes tinged pink, subglobose, subterete, 2–4(–4.5) × 2–4 mm, hard-walled, irregularly dehiscent, pedicel 0.5–1.2(–2.3) mm.

Seeds

embedded in wedge-shaped piece of endocarp, 0.8–1 × 0.8–1 mm.

brown to light brown, elliptic, 0.4–0.7 × 0.3–0.4 mm, surface cells transversely elongate to seed length, sometimes oblique.

2n

= 80.

= 32.

Ludwigia hexapetala

Ludwigia sphaerocarpa

Phenology Flowering spring–late fall. Flowering Jun–Sep.
Habitat Wet places, along slow-moving rivers, streams, canals, ditches, often growing into main channel as aquatic weed. Drainage ditches, shores of slow-moving streams or ponds, marshes, swales, swamp forests, edges of limestone sinks, peaty bogs in pastures, interdunal marshes.
Elevation 0–200[–2600] m. (0–700[–8500] ft.) 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; NY; OR; PA; SC; TN; WA; Central America (Costa Rica); South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay) [Introduced in w Europe (Belgium, France, Spain)]
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
AL; CT; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; LA; MA; MD; MI; MS; NC; NJ; NY; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ludwigia hexapetala (2n = 80) was formerly included with L. grandiflora (2n = 48) in L. uruguayensis (Cambessèdes) H. Hara, and some authors (G. L. Nesom and J. T. Kartesz 2000) still consider them to be a single species. The small but consistent morphological differences and different ploidy levels argue for keeping them distinct at the species level.

Fernald described Jussiaea michauxiana (1944), since he thought that J. grandiflora Michaux (1803) was a homonym (not J. grandiflora Ruíz & Pavon). However, it was later determined that the volume containing the Ruíz & Pavon name was published in 1830 (not 1802) making the name by Michaux valid and legitimate, and the name by Fernald an illegitimate substitution. Plants now known as Ludwigia hexapetala were included in the circumscription of L. uruguayensis (Cambessèdes) H. Hara (based on J. uruguayensis Cambessèdes) by P. H. Raven (1963[1964]) and P. A. Munz (1965).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Ludwigia sphaerocarpa has its primary distribution along the Atlantic coastal plain, from Massachusetts to north-central Florida, and west along the Gulf coastal plain sporadically to southeastern Texas. Disjunct populations occur in south-central Tennessee, extreme southwestern Indiana, along Lake Michigan in northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, and in west-central New York. In Michigan, L. sphaerocarpa is known from Allegan and Berrien counties, as reported by Reznicek and Voss in the Michigan Flora (https://michiganflora.net/species.aspx?id=1757).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Ludwigioideae > Ludwigia > sect. Jussiaea Onagraceae > subfam. Ludwigioideae > Ludwigia > sect. Isnardia
Sibling taxa
L. alata, L. alternifolia, L. arcuata, L. bonariensis, L. brevipes, L. curtissii, L. decurrens, L. erecta, L. glandulosa, L. grandiflora, L. hirtella, L. lanceolata, L. leptocarpa, L. linearis, L. linifolia, L. maritima, L. microcarpa, L. octovalvis, L. palustris, L. peploides, L. peruviana, L. pilosa, L. polycarpa, L. ravenii, L. repens, L. simpsonii, L. spathulata, L. sphaerocarpa, L. suffruticosa, L. virgata
L. alata, L. alternifolia, L. arcuata, L. bonariensis, L. brevipes, L. curtissii, L. decurrens, L. erecta, L. glandulosa, L. grandiflora, L. hexapetala, L. hirtella, L. lanceolata, L. leptocarpa, L. linearis, L. linifolia, L. maritima, L. microcarpa, L. octovalvis, L. palustris, L. peploides, L. peruviana, L. pilosa, L. polycarpa, L. ravenii, L. repens, L. simpsonii, L. spathulata, L. suffruticosa, L. virgata
Synonyms Jussiaeahexapetala hooker, J. repens var. major, L. grandiflora subsp. hexapetala, L. grandiflora var. hexapetala, L. uruguayensis var. major Isnardia sphaerocarpa, L. sphaerocarpa var. deamii, L. sphaerocarpa var. jungens, L. sphaerocarpa var. macrocarpa
Name authority (Hooker & Arnott) Zardini, H. Y. Gu & P. H. Raven: Syst. Bot. 16: 243. (1991) Elliott: Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1: 213. (1817)
Web links