| Author | Elliott | |
| Distribution | Present over the northern third of the Coastal Plain, barely into the adjacent Piedmont (Granville, Durham, and Chatham counties); occurs south to Johnston and Lenoir counties. Photographed by Eric Ungberg in 2020 (with a specimen at NCU) in southern Granville County and by David Cook in Durham County in 2022.
This is a sparse Eastern species with a range extending from ME to southeastern MO, and south to GA and eastern TX. Most records are from the Coastal Plains -- Atlantic and Gulf, and up the Mississippi Valley. | |
| Abundance | Uncommon to perhaps infrequent, at least depending on water levels, in the Coastal Plain south to Edgecombe and Martin counties; very rare to rare elsewhere in the range. This is a State Special Concern species, with a State Rank given by the NCNHP of S1?. Based on the number of records, S2 may be more accurate, especially as a few sites can contain large number (e.g., 500 estimated at the Granville County site). | |
| Habitat | This is a species of slow-moving or stationary waters, found in millponds, pools, backwaters and oxbows of rivers (blackwater and brownwater), and swamp openings. |
| Phenology | Blooms from April to July, and fruits from May to August. | |
| Identification | This is a very odd, and somewhat "ugly" plant, looking much more like a Myriophyllum or Proserpinaca than a species of Primulaceae somewhat related to loosestrifes (Lysimachia)! The submersed/floating leaves are quite feather-like, finely divided into numerous needle-like segments, each leaf being about 2 inches long and 3/4-inch wide. The flowering "stalks" are erect (with curved bases), extremely fleshy and inflated, each segment about 2-3 inches tall to another node. At such a node there are several tiny white flowers with bracts around this "joint", above which are one or two more fleshy segments, with the joints each containing tiny white flowers. These fleshy "stems" are about the size of your "pinkie" and light green; thus, a plant can reach about 6-8 inches tall. It is best to look at photos or drawings of the species to fully understand what this species truly looks like, as words cannot fully describe it! Without any stems, the species can be very difficult to identify. These floating plants often can be locally numerous some years and very rare in others, perhaps owing to water levels. It is suspected that the exotic Alligator-weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) has impacted some populations by out-competing the Hottonia. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
| |
| Other Common Name(s) | Water-violet (a name that seems totally inane), Featherfoil | |
| State Rank | S1? [S2] | |
| Global Rank | G4 | |
| State Status | SC-V | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | OBL link |
| USACE-emp | OBL link |
