- It is unclear of the country of origin of water lettuce. In Queensland, it quickly invades and forms a dense mass on nutrient-rich, stationary water bodies or slow-moving streams, devastating fish and waterfowl habitat.
- Can survive for long periods on mud banks or in other damp situations.
- Free-floating, perennial aquatic plant.
- Dense rosette of overlapping leaves on a very short stem with long, feathery roots.
- Leaves are yellowish-green, fan-shaped, with 6 or more prominent veins on the underside, thick at the base, densely covered with short white hairs.
- Small, green, inconspicuous flowers at the base of leaves.
- Roots are up to 80 cm long, unbranched.
- Fruit resembles a berry, 5-8 cm wide, although seed production has not been recorded in Australian conditions.
Other weed identifiers
Plant Life Cycle
This species is declared Restricted Matter under the Biosecurity Act 2014 for further information on declaration refer to your Local Government or the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries