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Hydrocotyle umbellata:
Water pennywort
Hydrocotyle umbellata L.: Water pennywort, marsh pennywort, giant floating pennywort. Apiaceae (carrot family).
Native perennial. Low-growing and spreading, with slender, smooth stems that run horizontally on or in moist soil or water; the whole plant can grow floating. Roots arise from nodes on the stem. Leaves are borne upright on stalks up to 12 in (30 cm) long, emerging from the running stem. Leaf blades are almost circular, edged with slight notches and one deeper indentation, and are up to 2.75 in (7 cm) across. Leaves are shiny and leathery, with a pale spot in the central shallow depression where the leaf stalk attaches to the underside. Veins radiate out from this point. Whitish flowers occur in open spherical heads borne on stalks that arise from the horizontal stems. These umbels are usually held above the leaves and are quite showy. This is the largest of the pennyworts.
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