''Hydrocharis morsus-ranae'', frogbit, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

belonging to the genus ''

Hydrocharis ''Hydrocharis'' is a genus of aquatic plants in the family Hydrocharitaceae described as a genus by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It is widespread across much of Europe and Asia, plus a few scattered locations in Africa. It is also reportedly naturaliz ...

'' in the family

Hydrocharitaceae Hydrocharitaceae is a flowering plant family including 16 known genera with a total of ca 135 known species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016), that including a number of species of aquatic plant, for instance the tape-grasses, the well known Canadia ...

. In North America, it is referred to as common frogbit or European frog's-bit to distinguish it from the related American frogbit (''

Limnobium spongia ''Limnobium'', common names spongeplant and American frogbit, is a group of aquatic plants in the Hydrocharitaceae described as a genus in 1814. It is widespread in freshwater environments in Latin America, the West Indies, and the United State ...

''). It is a small floating plant resembling a small water lily. It bears small, three-petalled white

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s. The floating leaves are kidney-shaped and grow in rosettes on the water surface, with the roots hanging down into the water column but not normally touching bottom. Frogbit is fast growing and spreads rapidly by

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

s, surviving the winter as dormant turions which rest on the bottom, rising again to the surface in spring. HydrocharisMorsusRanae

Frogbit is native to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and parts of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, but it was introduced to Canada in the 1930s and has become invasive in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, particularly around the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

. It is considered a pest in this region as it colonises waterways and forms dense masses of vegetation on the surface, threatening native

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

, although in its native areas it is rarely dominant.European Frogbit: Should we be Worried?

References

External links

Invading Species.com
Hydrocharitaceae Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{monocot-stub