Marsh Dewflower

Murdannia keisak

Found in stream banks, canals, ditches, freshwater marshes (tidal and non-tidal), swamp forests, wet areas in bottomlands, wet disturbed places. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

-85

Severe harm

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

Profile 65%

Light: Full sun, Partial shade
Soil moisture: Wet to standing water

Murdannia keisak — bloom photograph — Milo Pyne. USDA SCS. 1991. Southern wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. South National Technical Center, Fort Worth. Provided by USDA NRCS Wetland Science Institute (WSI). · Public domain · Original photograph

Do not plant. Listed invasive in Virginia.

At a glance

Life cycle: Annual
Bloom: September to October

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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 69 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 6

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.

Named place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 193 animals.

Tufted Titmouse
Baeolophus bicolor
Birds. 4 shared habitats
Acadian Flycatcher
Empidonax virescens
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Alder Flycatcher
Empidonax alnorum
Birds. 3 shared habitats
American Kestrel
Falco sparverius
Birds. 3 shared habitats
American Redstart
Setophaga ruticilla
Birds. 3 shared habitats
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Bank Swallow
Riparia riparia
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Black Rail
Laterallus jamaicensis
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Black-and-White Warbler
Mniotilta varia
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Blue Grosbeak
Passerina caerulea
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Boat-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus major
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Brown Creeper
Certhia americana
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Brown-headed Cowbird
Molothrus ater
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Canvasback
Aythya valisineria
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Carolina Chickadee
Poecile carolinensis
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Carolina Wren
Thryothorus ludovicianus
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Cedar Waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorum
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Cliff Swallow
Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Downy Woodpecker
Picoides pubescens
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Eastern Phoebe
Sayornis phoebe
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Eastern Screech-owl
Megascops asio
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Eurasian Collared-dove
Streptopelia decaocto
Birds. 3 shared habitats
European Starling
Sturnus vulgaris
Birds. 3 shared habitats
Gadwall
Anas strepera
Birds. 3 shared habitats

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

—CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

—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 · Murdannia

Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
Euphagus cyanocephalusBrewer's Blackbird
Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird

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: Commelinaceae
Flower color: Blue, pink, purple or white

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

Growing sources and scope

Bloom · “September to October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Flower color · “Blue, pink, purple or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Life cycle · “Annual” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Soil · “Frequent standing water” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox

Also known as

Aneilema keisak; Marsh Dayflower

Conservation status

Virginia rank	SNA
Global rank	GNR
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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