Plant Name
Scientific Name: Ludwigia octovalvis
Synonyms: Jussiaea angustifolia, J. clavata, J. octofila, J. scabra, J. suffruticosa var. octofila, Ludwigia octovalis
Common Names: Mexican Primrose-willow, Narrow-leaf Water-primrose, Seedbox, Willow Primrose
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Hawaii Native Status: Native (indigenous)
Flower Color: Yellow
Height: Up to 13 feet (4 m) tall, but usually much less
Description: The flowers emerge singly from the leaf axils and stem tips and have 4 broad, yellow, often notch-tipped petals and 4 green, lance-shaped or egg-shaped sepals. The flowers are followed by elongated, cylindrical, 8-ribbed seed capsules tipped with 4 calyx lobes (the former sepals). The leaves are green, alternate, and lance-shaped to narrowly egg-shaped. The stems are green to sometimes brownish and woody at the base, upright, well-branched, and variably hairy.
Here in Hawaii, Mexican Primrose-willow grows in wetlands and other moist areas at lower elevations.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae – Evening Primrose family
Genus: Ludwigia L. – primrose-willow
Species: Ludwigia octovalvis (Jacq.) P.H. Raven – Mexican primrose-willow
More About This Plant