• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research
  • Texas A&M College of Agrculture and Life Sciences
AquaPlant
AquaPlantA Diagnostics Tool for Pond Plants and Algae
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Find a Plant
  • Do I need a permit?
  • Common Questions
  • Glossary
  • Videos
  • Get Help

Marsh Seedbox

Ludwigia palustris

Marsh Seedbox Locations in North America
Marsh Seedbox Locations in Southeast US

USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 March 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
Illustration: USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

What is Marsh Seedbox?

Physical Characteristics

  • A type of water primrose

Leaves:

  • Elliptical shaped
  • 0.28-1.77 inches long
  • 0.16-0.91 inches wide
  • Leaf stalk 0.12-0.47 inches long

Flowers:

  • 4 sepals, 0.06-0.08 inches long
  • No petals
  • 4 stamen
  • Fleshy
  • 4 lobes

Fruit:

  • Stretched spherical shape
  • 0.08-0.2 inches long
  • 0.08-0.12 inches thick
  • Immobile

Seeds:

  • Several indistinct rows
  • 0.02-0.04 inches long

Stem:

  • Creeping
  • Up to 5.75 inches long

Roots:

  • Rooting at nodes

Where Does it Grow?

Marsh seedbox can be found in wet places such as ditches, swamps, marsh-meadows, shallow water, and wet gravel.

Pros and Cons of Marsh Seedbox

Ducks and other waterfowl will consume the seeds of water primrose. Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called “detritus”) for many aquatic invertebrates.

How to Manage This Plant
Plant Glossary

Search for a type of plant

Download Management Apps Hire a Professional Contact Your Ag & Natural Resource Agent Permissions and Citations Aquatic Herbicide Tables
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M University System Member

Photo Credits: The majority of the aquatic plant line drawings are the copyright of the University of Florida Center for Aquatic Plants (Gainsville). They are used with permission.

Aquatic plant photographs were provided by David Bayne, Jim Davis, Kelly Duffie, Billy Higginbotham, Michael Masser, John Clayton, Chetta Owens, Diane Smith, Joe Snow, Don Steinbach, Bridget Robinson Lassiter and Peter Woods.

You may use these photos, so long as you give credit to AquaPlant.

  • Compact with Texans
  • Privacy and Security
  • Accessibility Policy
  • State Link Policy
  • Statewide Search
  • Veterans Benefits
  • Military Families
  • Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Open Records/Public Information