Cabomba caroliniana | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Order: | Nymphaeales |
Family: | Cabombaceae |
Genus: | Cabomba |
Species: | C. caroliniana |
Binomial name | |
Cabomba caroliniana | |
Cabomba caroliniana, commonly known as Carolina fanwort and various other names, is an aquatic perennial herbaceous plant native to North and South America. Having been a popular aquarium plant, it has been exported around the world, and has become an invasive species in Europe and Australia.
Cabomba caroliniana is commonly called Carolina fanwort, [1] Carolina water shield, [2] green cabomba, fanwort, fish grass, Washington grass, Washington plant, common cabomba, Washington plant, and watershield. [3]
It is native to southeastern South America (southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina), [4] and the East and West Coasts of the United States. [1] It is eaten as a vegetable in some areas.
Fanwort is a submerged, sometimes floating, but often rooted, freshwater perennial plant with short, fragile rhizomes. The erect shoots are upturned extensions of the horizontal rhizomes. The shoots are grass-green to olive-green or sometimes reddish-brown. The leaves are of two types: submerged and floating. The submerged leaves are finely divided and arranged in pairs on the stem. The floating leaves, when present, are linear and inconspicuous, with an alternate arrangement. They are less than 1⁄2 in (13 mm) long and narrow (less than 1⁄4 in or 6.4 mm). The leaf blade attaches to the centre, where a slight constriction is seen. The flowers are white and small (less than 1⁄2 in (13 mm) in diameter) and are on stalks that arise from the tips of the stems.
Large numbers of plants are sent from Florida to the rest of the U.S. for commercial use. Fanwort is also grown commercially in Asia for export to Europe and other parts of the world. Small-scale, local cultivation occurs in some areas, and aquarists are probably responsible for some introductions.[ citation needed ]
This species grows rooted in the mud of stagnant to slow-flowing water, including streams, smaller rivers, lakes, ponds, sloughs, and ditches. In some states in the United States, it is now regarded as a weed. Fanwort stems become brittle in late summer, which causes the plant to break apart, facilitating its distribution and invasion of new water bodies. It produces by seed, but vegetative reproduction seems to be its main vehicle for spreading to new waters. Growth of 50 mm (2.0 in) a day has been reported in Lake Macdonald in Queensland, Australia. [5]
Use in the aquarium trade has led to some species being introduced to other parts of the world, such as Australia, where Cabomba caroliniana it is a nationally declared weed. [6] Having arrived in 1967, it spread rapidly in waterways and out-competed native plants, threatening water supplies, especially along the eastern side of the continent. [7] It is a weed of national significance in Australia. [8]
It is also on the list of invasive alien species of union concern in the EU. [9] The latter implies that the species cannot be traded nor commercialised. The EU forbids trading and selling of the plant and requires people possessing it before the Regulation went into force to take appropriate measures to prevent it from spreading. [10]
As of July 2023 [update] a trial is under way to control the weed by introducing a tiny South American beetle, Hydrotimetes natans , or Cabomba weevil, into Lake Macdonald and Lake Kurwongbah in Queensland. The species is being bred in a nursery at Lake Kurwongbah, with a view to national introduction for biological control of the weed. The larvae of the weevil damage the plant by tunnelling through its stems, breaking them down and causing secondary infections which hinder their ability to reproduce. Testing has been stringent, and it has been found that only the insect only feeds on cabomba, and does not affect any native plants. [7]
Salvinia molesta, commonly known as giant salvinia, or as kariba weed after it infested a large portion of Lake Kariba between Zimbabwe and Zambia, is an aquatic fern, native to south-eastern Brazil. It is a free-floating plant that does not attach to the soil, but instead remains buoyant on the surface of a body of water. The fronds are 0.5–4 cm long and broad, with a bristly surface caused by the hair-like strands that join at the end to form eggbeater shapes. They are used to provide a waterproof covering. These fronds are produced in pairs also with a third modified root-like frond that hangs in the water. It has been accidentally introduced or escaped to countless lakes throughout the United States, including Caddo Lake in Texas, where the invasive species has done extensive damage, killing off other life.
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that grows in or near water and is either emergent, submergent, or floating. In lakes and rivers macrophytes provide cover for fish, substrate for aquatic invertebrates, produce oxygen, and act as food for some fish and wildlife.
Persicaria perfoliata is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. Common names include mile-a-minute, devil's tail, giant climbing tearthumb, and Asiatic tearthumb. It is a trailing herbaceous annual vine with barbed stems and triangular leaves. It is native to most of temperate and tropical eastern Asia, occurring from eastern Russia and Japan in the north, and the range extending to the Philippines and India in the south.
Hydrilla (waterthyme) is a genus of aquatic plant, usually treated as containing just one species, Hydrilla verticillata, though some botanists divide it into several species. It is native to the cool and warm waters of the Old World in Asia, Africa and Australia, with a sparse, scattered distribution; in Australia from Northern Territory, Queensland, and New South Wales.
Myriophyllum aquaticum is a flowering plant, a vascular dicot, commonly called parrot's-feather and parrot feather watermilfoil.
Cabomba is an aquatic plant genus, one of two belonging to the family Cabombaceae. It has divided submerged leaves in the shape of a fan and is much favoured by aquarists as an ornamental and oxygenating plant for fish tanks. One species, Cabomba caroliniana, is a nationally declared weed in Australia, where it has choked up waterways after escaping from aquaria.
Myriophyllum spicatum is native to Europe, Asia, and north Africa, but has a wide geographic and climatic distribution among some 57 countries, extending from northern Canada to South Africa. It is a submerged aquatic plant, grows in still or slow-moving water, and is considered to be a highly invasive species.
Limnophila sessiliflora, known as dwarf ambulia, ambulis, and Asian marshweed is a flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae.
Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, known commonly as floating pennywort, or floating marshpennywort, is an aquatic plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to North and South America.
Ceratophyllum demersum, commonly known as hornwort, rigid hornwort, coontail, or coon's tail, is a species of Ceratophyllum. It is a submerged, free-floating aquatic plant, with a cosmopolitan distribution, native to all continents except Antarctica. It is a harmful weed introduced in New Zealand. It is also a popular aquarium plant.
Cabomba furcata is a species of aquatic plant in the water shield family known by the common names red cabomba and forked fanwort. It is native to Central and South America and as far north as Cuba and the tip of Florida. It reaches a maximum height between 30 and 80 centimetres and is up to 8 centimetres (3.1 in) wide. It bears purple flowers.
Nymphoides peltata is perennial, rooted aquatic plant with floating leaves of the family Menyanthaceae.
Stuckenia pectinata, commonly called sago pondweed or fennel pondweed, and sometimes called ribbon weed, is a cosmopolitan water plant species that grows in fresh and brackish water on all continents except Antarctica.
Callitriche stagnalis is a perennial aquatic vascular plant species. Also known as pond water-starwort, C. stagnalis, may thrive in a variety of aquatic and subaquatic habitats, specially those exhibiting slowly moving to non-moving water. Although C. stagnalis does not pose a threat to humans, its reproductive rate may pose a threat to native vegetation in areas where it has been introduced, as the resulting dense vegetative mats frequently out-compete native species.
Limnophila is a genus of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae. It is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. Species are known commonly as marshweeds.
Ludwigia peploides is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names floating primrose-willow and creeping water primrose. It is native to Australia, New Zealand, North America, and South America, but it can be found on many continents and spreads easily to become naturalized. It is well known as a troublesome aquatic noxious weed that invades water ecosystems and can clog waterways. This is perennial herb which grows in moist to wet to flooded areas. The stem can creep over 2 meters long, sometimes branching. It spreads to form mats on the mud, or floats ascending in the water. The leaves are several centimeters long and are borne in alternately arranged clusters along the stem. The flower has 5 to 6 lance-shaped sepals beneath a corolla of 5 or 6 bright yellow petals up to 2.4 centimeters long. The fruit is a hard, cylindrical capsule.
Cabomba aquatica is a popular aquarium plant that belongs to the family Cabombaceae and genus Cabomba. It is a perennial aquatic plant that lives in fresh standing water or in lakes and rivers with slight currents.
Parthenium hysterophorus is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the American tropics. Common names include Santa-Maria, Santa Maria feverfew, whitetop weed, and famine weed. In India, it is locally known as carrot grass, congress grass or gajar ghas or dhanura. It is a common invasive species in India, Australia, and parts of Africa.
Samea multiplicalis, the salvinia stem-borer moth, is an aquatic moth commonly found in freshwater habitats from the southern United States to Argentina, as well as in Australia where it was introduced in 1981. Salvinia stem-borer moths lay their eggs on water plants like Azolla caroliniana, Pistia stratiotes, and Salvinia rotundifolia. Larval feeding on host plants causes plant death, which makes S. multiplicalis a good candidate for biological control of weedy water plants like Salvinia molesta, an invasive water fern in Australia. However, high rates of parasitism in the moth compromise its ability to effectively control water weeds. S. multiplicalis larvae are a pale yellow to green color, and adults develop tan coloration with darker patterning. The lifespan, from egg to the end of adulthood is typically three to four weeks. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1854.
Myriophyllum alterniflorum, known as alternate water-milfoil or alternateflower watermilfoil, is a species of water-milfoil. It is native to Europe and Asia,has been introduced to North America and inhabits aquatic habitat, such as ponds and streams.
Principal source: Washington State Department of Ecology, 2003. Technical Information About Cabomba Caroliniana (Fanwort), ERDC, UNDATED Cabomba caroliniana Gray (Fanwort); Compiler: National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) & IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)