Eichhornia crassipes
Water hyacinth

Non-Native in Florida

The water hyacinth is a floating plant. This invasive nuisance is planta non grata in much of the world where it often jams rivers and lakes with uncounted thousands of tons of floating plant matter. A healthy acre of water hyacinths can weigh up to 200 tons! In the U.S., water hyacinth is present throughout the southeast, as well as in California and Washington state. In Florida, where for 100 years this weed had the upper-hand in water management, the water hyacinth in most places is under "maintenance control": field crews constantly working to keep the plant numbers at their lowest possible levels, in exchange for the rivers and lakes remaining usable.

Water hyacinth grows in all types of freshwaters.

Much more water hyacinth information and pictures are here


Water hyacinths vary in size from a few inches to over three feet tall. They have showy lavender flowers. Water hyacinth leaves are rounded and leathery, attached to spongy and sometimes inflated stalks. The plant has dark feathery roots.

Water hyacinth may be confused with frog's-bit, Limnobium spongia: Compare the roots and stems. See more about frog's-bit here.
Here is the Acrobat .PDF file of the water hyacinth chapter from the book, Identification & Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas


Here is an article on using water hyacinth to make things in Kenya


The UF/IFAS Assessment lists plants according to their invasive status in Florida. View the list here.

Click here to see the herbarium specimen image of the UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA HERBARIUM DIGITAL IMAGING PROJECTS.

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