Hydrocotyle verticillata
Common name
pennywort
Family
Araliaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Conservation status
Not applicable
Brief description
A marginal, occasionally submerged aquatic plant, with creeping stems and round leaves, the stalk attached in its centre.
Distribution
Only known from a stream in Hawke’s Bay and Tauranga, Bay of Plenty.
Habitat
Still and slow flowing water bodies and wetlands.
Detailed description
Slender emergent or submerged, creeping, glabrous perennial herb. Leaves alternate, peltate, orbiculate with crenate margins, up to 60 mm across. Petiole up to 30 cm tong. Inflorescence of several whorls of subsessile flowers c. 1 mm across, pinkish green. Fruit 4 mm across, with prominent ribs.
Similar taxa
No similar species in aquatic habitats.
Flowering
Summer
Flower colours
Green, Red/Pink
Fruiting
Summer to autumn
Life cycle
Spreads by water dispersed fragments, deliberate planting or aquarium discards.
Year naturalised
1995
Origin
North Central and South America, West Indies.
Reason for introduction
Ornamental pond and aquarium plant.
Control techniques
Not controlled in New Zealand.
Etymology
hydrocotyle: From the Greek hydor ‘water’ and cotyle ‘cup’, in reference to the cup-like hollow at the base if the leaf.
Attribution
Prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA).
References and further reading
Heenan, P.B.; de Lange, P.J.; Cameron, E.K.; Ogle, C.C.; Champion, P.D. (2004). Checklist of dicotyledons, gymnosperms and pteridophytes naturalised or casual in New Zealand: additional records 2001-2003. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42: 797-814.
Johnson, A. T. and Smith, H. A (1986). Plant Names Simplified: Their pronunciation, derivation and meaning. Landsman Bookshop Ltd: Buckenhill, UK.
Muenscher, W.C. (1944). Aquatic plants of the United States. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London. 374 pp.