About Hydrocotyle americana L.
Hydrocotyle americana, also known as American marshpennywort, is a small perennial herb that spreads across the ground using stolons, which root as the plant crawls. It produces small cylindrical tubers along its stem to help with reproduction. These tubers are usually less than 1 cm long, though specimens up to 1.5 cm have been observed. The plant can also grow longer ground-spreading structures called runners, which are longer than its stolons. Its leaves are 2 to 5 cm wide and have shallow lobes. The plant’s flowers and fruits are not prominent, and are often hidden beneath its leaves. Like all members of the Araliaceae family, its flowers grow in an umbel arrangement. Each umbel holds 2 to 7 flowers and grows from the leaf axils. American marshpennywort typically grows in moist habitats including bogs, seeps, boggy fields, wet woods, and lake margins. It is widespread across the northern portion of its range. Further south, it becomes less common and restricted to more specific habitats. For example, at the southern end of its range in South Carolina, H. americana only grows in "Spray Cliff" communities, where mist and water from a nearby waterfall keep the plants consistently hydrated.
