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Large-flowered waterweed
(Egeria densa)
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Large-flowered waterweed © Kristian Peters under Creative Commons licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
A non-native invasive plant.
This submerged aquatic plant flowers only in warm water conditions – it was seen in flower for the first time in Surrey in 2006, having been recorded in the wild since 1950.
Habitat
Aquatic habitats.
What's the problem?
Large-flowered waterweed is very popular in the freshwater aquarium trade. Plants are often discarded into the wild once they out-grow their tanks.
These introductions appear to be continuing. There is fear that if our climate warms even slightly, the plant will ‘take off’ and start outcompeting native species, clogging up waterways and drainage systems. Conservationists in Cornwall are already having to deal with Large-flowered waterweed infestations in the wild.
What are we doing about it?
Find out more about Plantlife's invasive plant programme by clicking here.