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Pennywort
Environmental Weed
Botanical name: Hydrocotyle bonariensis
Source: Weeds - Auld & Medd
Description
Originating from South America, Pennywort is a scrambling prostrate perrenial herb with extensive stems running along or beneath the surface, rooting at nodes.
Leaves bright green, leathery and circular, margins with rounded teeth, on a long petiole attached at the centre of the back of the leaf. Creamy-white on compound umbels, profusely branched with many flowers.
Dispersal
Spread quickly by means of its underground stems.
Impact on bushland
A versatile plant which grows on moist and / or dry sandy soils, in dunes or swamps.
Control
Manual:
- Nuisance plant difficult to control over large areas where it is growing amongst wanted plants.
- It thrives on mulch and being dug up - every broken piece of stem will grow.
- Use a wick to wipe neat a Glyphosate-based product onto part of each leaf.
See Manual Weed Control Techniques.
Chemical: Please contact your local control authority for advice on chemical control.
Similar species
- The native Hydrocotyle laxiflora has softer smaller and slightly hairy leaves.
- Another native species Hydrocotyle verticillata is found in freshwater swamps and has smaller leaves.