Floating Water Primrose
Floating Primrose-Willow
Ludwigia peploides
Photographed at Tres Rios Wetland, City of Phoenix, wastewater treatment facility, Arizona. Sept. 2009. The leaves of this plant are chewed by adults and larvae of the Primrose Flea Beetle (Chrysomelidae, Altica).
PERENNIAL: Herbaceous, mat-forming perennial.
FLOWERS: Usu. five bright yellow petals, ten stamens. Blooming summer
and fall.
LEAVES: Lance shaped leaves reminiscent of willow leaves. Alternate on
stems, dark green with prominent veins.
RANGE: Strictly a wetland plant normally growing in shallow water but
rooted in soil below. These wetland habitats in the Sonoran Desert are now
mostly created by man for water reclamation projects where the water has a high
nutrient content that is favored by this plant.
FRUIT: Cylindrical pod develops below flower and is hard with five or so
angles. Point downwards on maturing.
UNARMED