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Mecardonia procumbens (Mill.)Small
Baby Jumpup
Yellow-flowered Waterhyssop
Florida native
An occasional herb of ponds, streams and ditches, more widespread in the peninsula than the panhandle. Also found in the southernmost states from Georgia into Arizona. Native from here through Mexico, Central and South America into Brazil and Argentina. Can now be found in tropical and sub-tropical areas worldwide.
The stems of baby jumpup may be spreading, prostrate or ascending and 10-60cm (4 to 24 in.) long. Both leaves and stems are glandular and leaf margins are sharply serrate. Leaves are 10-25mm (3/8 to 1 in.) long, 6-12mm (1/4 to 1/2 in.) wide and 4 to 8 times the size of the bracts. The lemon-yellow flowers have reddish veins in the throat and are atop 7-25mm (up to 1 in.) long pedicels. 60 to 80 brown seeds form in a 4-5mm capsule.
Mecardonia procumbens is a member of the Plantaginaceae - Plantain family.
Other species of the Mecardonia genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Mecardonia acuminata var. peninsularis - AXILFLOWER
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Jul 06, 2024
