Kumudini / Water Snowflake
Nymphoides indica
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala & 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: Fringed white flowers, floating heart-shaped leaves (water snowflake).
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan 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 indica
- Genus
- Nymphoides
- Family
- Menyanthaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Ditches and ponds
- Habitat type
- Wetland
- Native to
- Pantropical
- Distribution
- Paleotropics
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Puducherry, Punjab, Tripura, 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
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
- Hindi
- कुमुदिनी Kumudini
- Bengali
- বড়ো চাঁদমালা
- Tamil
- சின்னாம்பல் Chinnambal
- Telugu
- Anthara thaamara
- Kannada
- Neeru thaavare
- Malayalam
- Nedel-ambel
- Marathi
- कुमुद
About Kumudini
Water Snowflake (Nymphoides indica) belongs to the Menyanthaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and 17 other states. It grows in ditches 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.
Point your camera at Kumudini or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
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.
All plant problem & care guides