Sign up for the iWire to get breaking news, event info and the species spotlight.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS
Salvinia molesta
Giant salvinia
Photographer: Keith Bradley
Source: Botanist/Conservation Biologist, Bugwood.org
Description
Salvinia is a rootless, floating aquatic fern. Emergent groups of leaves (fronds), oblong and flat (smaller growth forms) or semi-cupped/folded (larger growth forms), grow in chains and float on the water surface forming dense mats. Leaves grow in pairs and grow to approximately 1/2 inches wide and 1 inch long. Brown, thread-like leaves hang underwater, joining at a node along a horizontal, underwater stem and are similar in appearance to a root system. The upper surface of the green leaves is covered with rows of white, coarse hairs, acting as a water repellent. The hairs of giant salvinia are joined at the tips in an egg beater shape.
If you believe you have found giant salvinia in Texas, please report it here.
Photographer: Barry Rice, sarracenia.com, Bugwood.org
Close-up of the fern frond, showing the "egg beater" shape of the hairs on the upper surface.
Photographer: Ted D. Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org
Extensive infestation covering the entire surface of this body of water.
