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Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants Logo    Plant Management in Florida Waters

Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants Logo    Plant Management in Florida Waters

Water spinach

Quick Facts

  • Scientific name: Ipomoea aquatica
  • Origin: China
  • Introduction: Mid-1900s, vegetable crop
  • Aquatic community: Emergent
  • Habitat: Dry land, shorelines, floating mats
  • Distribution: Isolated sites, statewide
  • Management effort: Eradication
  • 2017 public waters / plant acres: 0 / 0
  • 2017 Waters / acres controlled: 1 ditch / 1

Water spinach Water spinach

Environmental and Economic Concerns

  • Grows several inches per day
  • Forms dense canopies over emergent plants
  • Creates floating mats on water surfaces
  • Common weed throughout the tropics, especially in rice fields
  • Potential for rapid dispersal by persons planting as a vegetable crop
  • Under FWC eradication programs when found in ditches and canals

Management Options

  • Biological: None available
  • Chemical: Glyphosate, imazapyr, triclopyr
  • Mechanical: Not feasible, fragments start new plants
  • Physical: Hand pulling

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Status of the Aquatic Plant Maintenance Program in Florida Public Waters, Annual Report – Fiscal Year 2016-2017.