Wildflower (forb) · Callitrichaceae
Northern water-starwort
Callitriche hermaphroditica
Northern water-starwort is recorded as native to 12 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 79 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Northern water-starwort at a glance
- Native in
- 79 counties, across 12 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- Not recorded 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.
Northern water-starwort is recorded as native to 12 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 79 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 79 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
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
- Not recorded
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Decumbent
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- 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
- Not recorded
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.6 to 7.4
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- Not recorded
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Green
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Callitrichaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CAHE2
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
- Callitriche hermaphroditica (PLANTS symbol CAHE2).
- 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