Water Lettuce
Other Common Names: water cabbage, river lettuce, shell flower
(Pistia stratiotes)
Non-Native
Water lettuce often looks like a floating open head of lettuce.
Management Options
Click here for more information on how to control water lettuce.
Description
Water lettuce is a floating plant that looks like an open head of lettuce. Light green leaves are hairy and ridged (parallel veins) with rounded edges. These wedge or oval shaped leaves grow six to ten inches long, point upward, and are clustered together on short branches. Water lettuce roots are submersed, long, and feathery.
Dense mats of water lettuce can clog waterways, preventing use of the water and possibly causing fish kills due to oxygen depletion if the entire surface is covered. Water lettuce can crowd out native plants and block access to the water for wildlife. This changes the dynamics of an area when animals depend on certain plants that have been pushed away by the water lettuce. The animals then need to search for what they need elsewhere
Location
Water lettuce can be found across the southern half of the United States and some east coast states.
Propagation
seeds, fragments
Management Options
Click here for more information on how to control water lettuce.