Great Waterleaf
Hydrophyllum appendiculatum
Found in rich moist forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 1–2 feet
- Light
- Part shade, Shade
- Soil moisture
- Average
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Biennial
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 8 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Hydrophyllum
- Morrisonia evictaBicolored Woodgrain
7BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Hydrophyllum
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Boraginaceae
- Flower color
- White or purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “White or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “1–2 feet” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Life cycle · “Biennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Part shade; Shade” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “medium” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV 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.
Growing cautions
- Spreads by rhizomes. Spreads by rhizomes and by re-seeding. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- West Virginia 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