Lowland Rotala
Rotala ramosior
Found in marshes, ditches, exposed drawdown muds and silts. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 4–16 inches
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water

At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- June to October
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 59 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 117 animals.
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Hairy WoodpeckerPicoides villosus
- Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
- Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
- Hooded WarblerWilsonia citrina
- Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Least FlycatcherEmpidonax minimus
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Mississippi KiteIctinia mississippiensis
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Rotala
- Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Lythraceae
- Flower color
- White or pink
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White or pink” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “4–16 inches” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Moist; Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Toothcup
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

























