This very short plant grows less than 1 inch tall but can break off and form a mat that covers available surface water very quickly making it difficult for mosquitos to deposit their eggs, hence the common name "mosquito fern".

Growing in still or very slow moving water it naturalizes in shallow ponds, ditches, and sluggish streams. The delicate lacey scale like leaves overlap and float above the surface forming a dense mat with the roots trailing in the water.

The leaflets house a symbiotic blue-green alga (Anabaena azollae) that fixes nitrogen. Use it in water gardens, ponds, or aquariums though the leaves are normally not eaten by fish.

Install from 6 to 9 inches below waterline.

Freshwater only.

Sold by the bag holding 100 plants nominally - probably closer to 500!

Wetland Indicator Status: OBL - almost always occur in wetlands

Click for more information: USDA Plants Database