| Author | Shuttleworth ex Chapman | |
| Distribution | Sandhills and southern outer Coastal Plain. The gap appears to be real and not a collecting artifact.
Coastal Plain, southeastern VA to northern FL and southern MS. As it occurs rarely in southeastern VA, it could be found eventually in the northern half of the NC Coastal Plain. | |
| Abundance | Rare to uncommon. The NCNHP database lists 17 records, of which 6 are in good to excellent condition, but with almost half seemingly historical. It is a State Endangered species, probably because it is globally quite rare (G3). | |
| Habitat | Natural depression ponds, sinkhole ponds, blackwater impoundments. |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting June-September. | |
| Identification | Loose Water-milfoil grows very much like M. heterophyllum and also has reddish stems and greenish brown leaves. However, it has only 7-15 (-17) leaf segments vs. 15-31 (-37), and its flowering bracts are tiny and barely longer than flowers and fruits vs. broad and much longer in that more common species. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
| |
| Other Common Name(s) | Lax Water-milfoil | |
| State Rank | S2 | |
| Global Rank | G3 | |
| State Status | E | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | OBL link |
| USACE-emp | OBL link |
