Salvinia molesta (D.S. Mitch)

Salvinia molesta is a floating, perennial aquatic plant that lives in tropical, sub-tropical or temperate areas. It is usualy found in still or slow-moving water bodies, such as ditches, ponds, lakes, slow rivers and canals. In standing water it forms stable floating mats on the surface. Also, it usually lives in nutrient-rich waters that stimulate growth. It can also survive on mudbanks, and will tolerate some drying, but it is quickly killed by sea water, although it can tolerate lower concentrations of salt.

Salvinia molesta lacks true roots but its submerged fronds function as roots. Depending on space availability and concentration of nutrients, the plant shows great morphological variation. Its leaves range from a width less than 1.5 cm to a width up to 6 cm.

This plant is native to the north-east of Argentina and Brazil.

Introduced into:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Borneo, Botswana, Burkina, California, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Comoros, Connecticut, Corse, Cuba, Denmark, Fiji, Florida, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Hawaii, Hungary, India, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jawa, Kansas, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Leeward Is., Lesotho, Louisiana, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Maryland, Mauritania, Mississippi, Missouri, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Mexico, New South Wales, Nigeria, North Carolina, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pakistan, Palestine, Pennsylvania, Philippines, Portugal, Queensland, Senegal, South Australia, South Carolina, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Texas, Thailand, Trinidad-Tobago, Uganda, Vanuatu, Victoria, Virginia, Washington, West Himalaya, Western Australia, Zambia, Zimbabwe