Natives For Your Neighborhood
Conservation of rare plants, animals, and ecosystems

General Landscape Uses: Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wet butterfly gardens.

Availability: Grown by enthusiasts and occasionally by native plant nurseries.

Description: Annual creeping herbaceous grass.

Dimensions: About 6-18 inches tall. Often floating on water and forming large patches.

Growth Rate: Fast.

Range: Eastern and central United States west to Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas and south to Central Florida and then along the west coast to Collier County; West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America. Reported but never verified from Fern Forest Nature Center in Broward County.

 Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.

Habitats: Swamps and sloughs.

Soils: Wet, poorly-drained organic soils.

Nutritional Requirements: High; requires rich organic soils for optimal growth.

Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water.

Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.

Drought Tolerance: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.

Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade or moderate shade.

Flower Color: Brownish inflorescence.

Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.

Flowering Season: Summer-fall.

Fruit: Inconspicuous caryopsis.

Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host for clouded skipper (Lerema accius) butterflies.

Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed and division.