Dollarweed Identification Guide for North Florida Lawns
This Dollarweed Identification Guide will help North Florida homeowners recognize dollarweed, understand where it commonly grows in lawns, and identify characteristics that help distinguish it from similar broadleaf weeds.
Dollarweed (Hydrocotyle umbellata) is a low-growing broadleaf weed commonly associated with moist or poorly drained areas. Its round, bright-green leaves are held above the ground on slender stems, and the leaf stalk attaches near the center of the underside of the leaf, creating a distinctive umbrella-like appearance.
Finding dollarweed can provide a useful clue about lawn conditions. Where it is growing, how wet the soil remains, drainage, irrigation, and the condition of the surrounding turf can help explain why it became established.
Small Weed. Useful Clues.
What Does Dollarweed Look Like?
Dollarweed produces distinctive round to nearly circular leaves with slightly scalloped edges. Each leaf grows on a slender upright stalk, giving patches of dollarweed an umbrella-like appearance above the turf.
One of the most useful identification clues is where the leaf stalk attaches. On dollarweed, the stalk connects near the center of the underside of the leaf rather than at a notch along the leaf edge. Looking at that attachment point can help distinguish dollarweed from similar round-leaved plants.
What Might Dollarweed Be Telling You?
Dollarweed doesn’t automatically mean a lawn has a drainage problem. However, it commonly becomes established where soil remains moist or drainage is poor, making water conditions an important clue to investigate.
Look at the weed together with the surrounding lawn. Its location, density, soil moisture, irrigation patterns, drainage, and turf condition can help explain why it is growing there.
Useful things to notice include:
• Areas that remain wet longer than the surrounding lawn
• Low spots or areas with poor drainage
• Irrigation that may be keeping the soil consistently moist
• Thin or open turf where dollarweed can become established
Bug Cops provides Lawn and Ornamental Care Services throughout Clay and Putnam Counties, with programs built around the conditions we encounter in our local lawns and landscapes.
Where Should You Look?
Dollarweed may appear in lawns, landscape beds, low areas, and other places where soil stays moist.
Look closely at areas that remain wet after rainfall or irrigation and places where drainage may be slow.
Don’t judge the lawn from the weed alone. Compare where dollarweed is growing with nearby turf, irrigation coverage, drainage patterns, and soil moisture across the property.
Identification Note: Check Where the Leaf Stalk Attaches. Dollarweed has round to nearly circular leaves, but the strongest clue is often underneath the leaf. The stalk attaches near the center of the underside of the leaf, giving it an umbrella-like appearance. Looking at this attachment point can help distinguish dollarweed from similar round-leaved weeds.
Not sure this is dollarweed? Compare it with other common broadleaf weeds in our Broadleaf Weed Identification Guide. For additional university-based information about identifying and managing weeds in Florida lawns, visit the UF/IFAS Weed Management Guide for Florida Lawns.
Dollarweed Identification Guide FAQs
Dollarweed commonly appears in moist or poorly drained areas. Low spots, areas that remain wet after rainfall or irrigation, and thin or open turf can provide favorable conditions for it to become established.
Dollarweed has round to nearly circular green leaves with slightly scalloped edges. The leaves grow on slender upright stalks, giving the plant an umbrella-like appearance.
Check where the leaf stalk attaches. For example, on dollarweed, the stalk attaches near the center of the underside of the leaf rather than at a notch along the edge. This is one of its most useful identification clues.
Not necessarily. Dollarweed is commonly associated with moist conditions, but its presence alone does not identify the cause. Rainfall, drainage, irrigation, soil conditions, and the surrounding turf should all be considered.
Yes. Dollarweed is one of the common broadleaf weeds covered by our Lawn and Ornamental Care program. Before recommending an approach, we look at the weed and surrounding lawn conditions.
Not Sure What’s Growing in Your Lawn?
Weeds can look similar, especially when they’re young or growing down within the turf. Take a clear photo of the entire plant, along with close-ups of the leaves, stems, flowers, or seed structures if present, and send it to Bug Cops. We’ll help you narrow down what you’re seeing.
Protecting & Serving Clay and Putnam Counties Since 1993
Dollarweed and other broadleaf weeds may keep appearing in your lawn. When that happens, Bug Cops can inspect the turf and look at conditions that may be contributing to weed pressure. We can then recommend the appropriate next step.