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Little Floating-heart

Nymphoides cordata

Found in upland depression ponds, sluggish streams, beaverponds, primarily in the fall-line Sandhills. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

23
Good

Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 82%

Light
Full sun, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Moist to standing water
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
April to August

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves

Height: NC species account not read yet.

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 10 Alabama counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 3

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 87 animals.

All wildlife of Alabama

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL

Genus host records with ranges including AL · Nymphoides

  • Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
  • Langessa nomophilalisBlack Langessa
  • Parapoynx allionealisWatermilfoil Leafcutter, Bladderwort Casemaker
  • Parapoynx seminealisFloating-Heart Waterlilly Moth, Waterlily Casebearer
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Menyanthaceae
Hardiness
Zones 5a–10b
Flower color
Cream or white

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Little Floating heart

Conservation status

Alabama rankSNR
Global rankG5
AL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources