Kumudini / Crested Floating Heart
Nymphoides cristata
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Rajasthan, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Kumudini
Identify Kumudini by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Crested/fringed white floating flowers.
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- Confirm fruit type: Capsule.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Rajasthan, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Menyanthaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Kumudini.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Nymphoides cristata
- Genus
- Nymphoides
- Family
- Menyanthaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Ditches in grasslands and ponds
- Native to
- Tropical Asia
- Distribution
- India, Malesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China
- Found in India
- Rajasthan, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Menyanthaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
- Fruit type
- CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“The fruit is a capsule bearing many flattened seeds.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Inflorescence
- Umbel
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kumudini itself; the rest are typical of the Menyanthaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Assamese
- পানীকোলা Panikola, পানসিউলী Pan-seuli
- Hindi
- कुमुदिनी Kumudini, Tagarmul
- Malayalam
- Cheruthettambel, Neythel
- Marathi
- कुमुदिनी Kumudini
About Kumudini
Crested Floating Heart (Nymphoides cristata) belongs to the Menyanthaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and 3 other states. It grows in ditches in grasslands and ponds. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Menyanthaceae
Pogbean Family
Kumudini belongs to the Menyanthaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Menyanthaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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