Largeleaf Marsh-pennywort

Hydrocotyle bowlesioides

Found in lawns. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 47%

Light: Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture: Dry to wet

Hydrocotyle bowlesioides — whole photograph — Forest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0 · Original photograph

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

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

Recorded in 3 Florida 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.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Hydrocotyle

Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
Enigmogramma basigeraPink-Washed Looper Moth
Herpetogramma bipunctalisSouthern Beet Webworm, Two-Spotted Herpetogramma
Papilio polyxenesBlack Swallowtail, Celery Caterpillar, Fennel Worm, Desert Black Swallowtail, Parsnip Swallowtail
Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

—Specialist beesPollen specialists

3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Hydrocotyle

Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
Quiscalus majorBoat-tailed Grackle

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Araliaceae

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

Growing sources and scope

Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia

Also known as

Largeleaf Marsh pennywort

Conservation status

Florida rank	Not available
Global rank	GNR
FL status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden