LITTLE FLOATING HEART
SMALLER FLOATING HEART
Nymphoides cordata

NATIVE TO MAINE

Little floating heart in-situ

Habitat: Little floating heart is found in the floating-leaved plant community. It grows in quiet waters of lakes and streams.

Description: Small (1.5 to 5 cm wide), heart-shaped leaves with entire (or slightly scalloped) margins emerge from rhizomes on long slender stems. Each stem produces a single leaf only. The delicate white flowers (about 1 cm in diameter) have five petals, and emerge from the submersed stem to the water's surface on slender stalks. Clumps of elongate tuberous roots resembling tiny bunches of bananas are also borne along the stem, generally near the surface.

U.S. range map of little floating heart

U.S. Range: Little floating heart is native to Maine and New England, and occurs in most states along the eastern seaboard and gulf coast.

Annual Cycle: Little floating heart is an aquatic perennial that propagates by rhizomes, tubers and seeds. Flowers are produced from June to September. Plants die back to their rhizomes with the onset of winter. Rhizomes, tubers and seeds sprout new growth as the water begins to warm in the spring.

Value to the Aquatic Community: Little floating heart provides food and shelter for wildlife, including fish.

Look Alikes: May be confused with European frogbit, yellow floating heart, watershield, spatterdock, and fragrant water lily.

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