Index / Search / Menyanthes trifoliata

§1 Plant — species · Menyanthaceae

Menyanthes trifoliata L.

vernacular buckbean


USDA
METR3
GBIF
5341511
Rank
species
buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata)
Platephotograph · Herbert StadelmannCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Menyanthaceae Dumort.
Genus
Menyanthes
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • GL Greenland Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
High
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
12–55 in/yr
pH range
4.8–6.5
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
0.8 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
65,000
Propagation
seed, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 6 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/METR3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5341511 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z