many-flowered marsh-pennywort

Names and Synonyms

Common Names

• many-flowered marsh-pennywort
• many-flowered water-pennywort
• water pennywort
• dollarweed
• many-flower marsh-pennywort
• manyflower marsh pennywort
• navel-wort

Scientific Names

Accepted name

Synonyms

• Hydrocotyle umbellata var. scaposa
• Hydrocotyle umbellata var. umbellulata
• Hydrocotyle afra
• Hydrocotyle scaposa
• Hydrocotyle polystachya
• Hydrocotyle fluitans
• Hydrocotyle umbellata var. intermedia
• Hydrocotyle umbellata var. microphylla
• Hydrocotyle umbellulata

Regional and Traditional Names

Sources: Wikidata, Catalogue of Life

Taxonomical Classification

This plant belongs to the kingdom Plantae and is classified under the phylum Streptophyta and the class Equisetopsida. Within the subclass Magnoliidae, it falls under the order Apiales and the family Araliaceae. Finally, it is identified by the genus Hydrocotyle, specifically as the species Hydrocotyle umbellata.

Sources: The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP)

Distribution

This plant exhibits a diverse geographical distribution that spans across several continents and various climatic zones. In the Indo-China region, it can be found growing in Thailand. Its range extends to the Southern Hemisphere, specifically inhabiting the northern parts of New Zealand. Moving to North America, the species is located in Eastern Canada within Nova Scotia. Finally, the plant is established in the United States, ranging from Oregon in the Northwest to Illinois in the North-Central region.

Sources: The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP)

Botanical Identification

Ecology

The ecology of Hydrocotyle umbellata is characterized by its ability to thrive across a broad altitudinal gradient, ranging from sea level up to an elevation of 3000 m AMSL. This wide vertical distribution allows the species to inhabit diverse ecological niches, from lowland coastal wetlands and riparian zones to higher-altitude montane environments. Typically found in moist, saturated habitats, it plays a role in stabilizing soil in wet areas and often colonizes the margins of ponds, marshes, and slow-moving streams. Its adaptability to varying elevations suggests a high degree of tolerance to different temperature regimes and atmospheric pressures, enabling it to persist in both tropical lowland ecosystems and cooler, high-elevation aquatic habitats.

Elevational range max:

3000 m AMSL

Elevational range min:

0 m AMSL

Life history

The life history of Hydrocotyle umbellata is characterized by its nature as a perennial plant, allowing it to persist through multiple growing seasons. It typically establishes itself in moist or aquatic environments, where it employs a spreading growth habit to colonize available substrate. Throughout its lifecycle, the plant utilizes both sexual and asexual reproduction methods to ensure its continued presence in its habitat; while it produces flowers for seed dispersal, it also frequently expands through the development of stolons or rhizomes that root at the nodes, facilitating vegetative propagation. This perennial strategy enables the species to maintain stable populations and effectively compete for space in wetland ecosystems over extended periods.

Lifecycle :

perennial

Morphology

The morphology of Hydrocotyle umbellata is characterized by its diverse growth habits and structural adaptations. As a non-woody plant, it exhibits a soft, succulent texture typical of a herb and specifically functions as a forb. Its ecological strategy is highly versatile, manifesting as an aquatic, semiaquatic, or terrestrial species depending on the moisture availability of its environment. While it can spread across various substrates, it is not an epiphyte, maintaining a terrestrial existence rather than growing on other plants. The plant is an independent organism, showing no parasitic tendencies toward its hosts. Furthermore, it possesses a self-supporting climbing habit, allowing it to spread across surfaces without being an obligatory vine or liana.

Aquatic :

terrestrial

Climber :

self-supporting

Epiphyte :

terrestrial

Growth form :

herb

Growth form :

forb

Parasite :

independent

Woodiness :

non-woody

Physiology

The physiology of Hydrocotyle umbellata is characterized by its metabolic efficiency and specialized adaptations to semi-aquatic or moist environments. As a plant utilizing the C3 photosynthetic pathway, it fixes carbon dioxide directly through the Calvin cycle within the mesophyll cells, a process that is highly effective in the temperate to tropical humid habitats where it typically thrives. This metabolic strategy allows for consistent biomass production under moderate light and temperature conditions, though it remains sensitive to photorespiration under high-heat or high-light stress. The plant's physiological processes are closely integrated with its morphological ability to spread via creeping stolons, which facilitates nutrient uptake and water transport across varying substrates. Furthermore, its physiological regulation of gas exchange and water potential is finely tuned to manage the transitions between saturated soils and more exposed terrestrial surfaces, ensuring stable cellular turgor and metabolic continuity.

Photosynthetic pathway :

C3

Sources: Global Inventory of Floras and Traits (GIFT)

Chemicals

Hydrocotyle umbellata has 4 reported phytochemicals identified across 0 scientific publications and several other databases. The most consistently reported chemicals include Hibalactone, Flavonoids, Saponins, Tannins.

Hibalactone

1. Journal of traditional and complementary medicine
2. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie

Flavonoids

1. Phytochemical analysis : PCA

Saponins

1. Phytochemical analysis : PCA

Tannins

1. Phytochemical analysis : PCA

Activities

Hydrocotyle umbellata has 1 reported activities identified across 0 scientific publications and several other databases. The most consistently reported activities include Antinociceptive.

Antinociceptive

1. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie

Medicinal Uses

Hydrocotyle umbellata has 7 reported medicinal uses identified across 0 scientific publications and several other databases. The most consistently reported uses include cancer, edema, hypertension, inflammation, nociception.

Most Reported Uses

Preparations