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Common Water-primrose

Ludwigia hexapetala

Also listed as Ludwigia grandiflora subsp. hexapetala

Found in ponds, lakes, sluggish waters of ditches or streams. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

-30
Harmful

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

Profile 65%

Light
Full sun
Soil moisture
Moist to standing water

Do not plant. Listed invasive in Virginia.

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
May to September

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves

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

Recorded in 10 Virginia 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

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond
Regional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Watauga Falls
Named place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

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

5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Ludwigia

  • Elophila gyralisWaterlily Borer Moth
  • Eudryas unioPearly Wood-Nymph
  • Junonia coeniaCommon Buckeye
  • Nematocampa resistariaFilament Bearer, Horned Spanworm Moth
  • Parapoynx seminealisFloating-Heart Waterlilly Moth, Waterlily Casebearer
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

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

  • Aix sponsaWood Duck
  • Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
  • Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
  • Porzana carolinaSora
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
Onagraceae
Flower color
Yellow

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

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Common Water primrose; Ludwigia grandiflora ssp. hexapetala; Ludwigia grandiflora subsp. hexapetala

Conservation status

Virginia rankSNR
Global rank[GNR]
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources