Wildflower (forb) · Alismataceae
American water plantain
Alisma subcordatum
American water plantain is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 844 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
American water plantain at a glance
- Native in
- 844 counties, across 35 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 6 in PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
American water plantain is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 844 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 844 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 12 counties
- Arkansas 17 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 9 counties
- Illinois 97 counties
- Indiana 66 counties
- Iowa 13 counties
- Kansas 34 counties
- Kentucky 65 counties
- Maine 10 counties
- Maryland 1 county
- Massachusetts 12 counties
- Minnesota 37 counties
- Mississippi 1 county
- Missouri 47 counties
- Nebraska 19 counties
- New Hampshire 6 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New Mexico 1 county
- New York 14 counties
- North Carolina 19 counties
- North Dakota 2 counties
- Ohio 71 counties
- Oklahoma 8 counties
- Pennsylvania 61 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 3 counties
- Tennessee 36 counties
- Texas 2 counties
- Vermont 5 counties
- Virginia 73 counties
- West Virginia 22 counties
- Wisconsin 57 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6 in
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 35 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Alismataceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ALSU
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Alisma subcordatum (PLANTS symbol ALSU).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources