Nymphoides cordata

Little floating heart

SMALLER FLOATING HEARTS

NATIVE TO MAINE

Habitat: Little floating heart is found in the floating leaved plant community. It grows in quiet waters.

Description: Little floating heart is a perennial floating leaved plant. The heart-shaped leaves are 1.5 to 5 cm wide, and smooth along the outer margin. Each individual leaf is attached to the bottom sediments by a long slender petiole. The small white flowers (about 1 cm in diameter) have five petals and emerge from the stem below the floating leaf on slender stalks. Usually there are several flower stalks per leaf stem. The flowers give way to fruit capsules toward the end of the growing season. Clumps of elongate tuberous roots resembling a tiny bunch of bananas also form on the stem below the leaf, giving this plant its nickname, "underwater banana plant."

Origin and Range: Little floating heart is native to the U.S. It may be found north to Ontario in eastern U.S. south to Florida and Louisiana. Its frequency in Maine waters is classified as “occasional.”

Annual Cycle: Little floating heart flowers from June to September. It propagates by rhizomes, tubers and seeds and over-winters by dying back to these propagative structures.

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

Look Alikes: Maybe confused with European frogbit, yellow floating heart, small yellow pond lily, watershield, spatterdock, and fragrant water lily.