Slender Naiad; Wavy Waternymph; Wavy Water Nymph
Najas canadensis
Found in lakes, rivers, impoundments. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native status unresolved in Mississippi. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 18%
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 2 Mississippi counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Who uses this plant?
—CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
9BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Najas
- Anas acutaNorthern Pintail
- Anas platyrhynchosMallard
- Aythya affinisLesser Scaup
- Aythya marilaGreater Scaup
- Cygnus olorMute Swan
- Mareca americanaAmerican Wigeon
- Mareca penelopeEurasian Wigeon
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
- Spatula clypeataNorthern Shoveler
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
Plant details
- Family
- HYDROCHARITACEAE
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Also known as
Najas canadensis
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| MS 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
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Mississippi occurrence source
- 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