Phyllanthaceae

Floating spurge

Phyllanthus fluitans Benth. ex Müll.Arg.

Family: Phyllanthaceae
Genus: Phyllanthus

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Floating spurge (Phyllanthus fluitans) — FlowerPhoto: Lucas Kaminski, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (2)

Chinese: 浮水叶下珠
English: Floating spurge, Red root floater, floating spurge, apple duckweed

Synonyms

Diasperus fluitans (Benth. ex Müll.Arg.) Kuntze

Flowers

In flower: May (from 8 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Lower 48 states: introduced

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Lucas Kaminski, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: bruno_san1409, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Monarchatto, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Monarchatto, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Monarchatto, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Monarchatto, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Monarchatto, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Monarchatto, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Phyllanthus

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.