Dollarweed, also known as pennywort, gets its common name from its easy-to-spot silver dollar-shaped leaves. This warm-season perennial weed loves water and typically grows low to the ground. The sooner you identify possible dollarweed growth on your property, the sooner you can begin to control it. Read our guide to determine if you have dollarweed in your yard.
Characteristics of Dollarweed
Dollarweed leaves are round and scallop-edged, with stems growing from their center like the handle on an umbrella. The leaves resemble small lily pads from above. Noting this style of leaf shape can help you differentiate between the similar leaves of the dichondra plant--a ground cover that is sometimes confused with dollarweed. Dichondra leaf stems grow from the edge of the fan-shaped leaves and can be easy to identify by taking a moment to examine them.
- Dollarweed produces small white flowers similar to those of a clover during the spring and summer. These flowers usually appear in small clusters among the round, green namesake leaves.
- Dollarweed plants can float in the water or grow upright from the ground on thin, rigid stems.
- Dollarweed is categorized as a creeping weed due to its mostly horizontal growth through the use of rhizomes and tubers as well as by seed.
Where and When Does Dollarweed Grow?
Dollarweed will germinate in the spring in warmer regions and in the early summer in more northern states. Blossoms that follow will continue to appear through the summer to early fall.
The weed is found in most of the coastal United States, from Maine to Oregon.
Learn how to find Dollarweed in your yard in the next part of our Dollarweed Guide. Click the right arrow below to read more.