American Water-willow
Justicia americananative · Hill Country
American Water-willow is a perennial wildflower native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–3 ft tall and 3 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water, and handles clay soil. Blooms white in late spring. Good for butterflies.
Wet ground only. A wetland plant: it needs standing water or saturated soil — a pond edge, creek bank or rain garden, not a dry upland bed.
Will it grow in your yard?
Enter your ZIP. The finder checks American Water-willow against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.
The facts
4 sources- Type
- Perennial wildflower
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade (4–8 hrs of direct sun)
- Water
- Medium
- Height
- 1–3 ft
- Spread
- 3 ft
- Bloom
- Late Spring · white
- Foliage
- Deciduous or dies back in winter
- Soil
- Takes clay · recorded on moist, mud, poor drainage
- Wildlife
- Supports butterflies
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut Plain
Can you buy it?
Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.