Hawaii's Most Invasive Horticultural Plants

   
water lettuce
Pistia stratiotes

(Photo credit: George Staples)


Description: Free-floating herb with 2-10" basal rosette of light-green, squared leaves, each having 5-7 vertical grooves and notched at the tip.
Risk areas: Freshwater lakes, ponds, marshes, ditches, canals, slow-moving streams.
WARNING:Colonies develop in such numbers by vegetative spread that still waters can be covered with a continuous carpet of plants.

top  |  back  |  Horticultural Invasives home  |  DOFAW home  |  DLNR home  |  Privacy Policy  |  Questions/Comments