Hydrocotyle umbellata
Family
Araliaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Conservation status
Not applicable
Flower colours
Green, White
Life cycle
Perennial herb. By seed and asexual spread from layering. Long-lived forms a large seed bank. Mainly spread by deliberate planting and subsequent vegetative spread; also through careless disposal of garden waste and by seed.
Year naturalised
2005
Reason for introduction
Vegetable (Asian salad herb)
Etymology
hydrocotyle: From the Greek hydor ‘water’ and cotyle ‘cup’, in reference to the cup-like hollow at the base if the leaf.
umbellata: Bearing flowers in umbels
References and further reading
Johnson, A. T. and Smith, H. A (1986). Plant Names Simplified: Their pronunciation, derivation and meaning. Landsman Bookshop Ltd: Buckenhill, UK.