One can understand how this perennial wildflower came to be named so appropriately – Marsh for its habitat of damp, mostly acid ground – and Pennywort for the shape of its leaves – quite like little coins. It's a very easily overlooked plant, growing very close to the ground and creeping through soggy places. The 5-petalled flowers are absolutely tiny, whitish-green with a pink tinge, and they are in small compact umbels, usually hidden under their foliage. The bloom from June to August. The long-stalked, peltate leaves are extremely pretty, round, dimpled and with clearly marked veins running out from the centre in the form of tridents, and they have softly curved lobes. Although belonging to the Apiaceae family, Marsh Pennywort, with its creeping stem, is not a typical member as it has its flowers in a simple umbel only. It is a native plant.
My first record of this little plant was in 1977 on Abbey Island, Co Kerry. I photographed it in 2007 in that place also.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
