Frogbit

Description

It is a small floating plant resembling a small water lily. It bears small, three-petalled white flowers. The floating green leaves are kidney-shaped and grow in rosettes on the water surface, with the roots hanging down into the water column, part submerged but not normally touching bottom. Frogbit is fast growing and spreads rapidly by stolons, surviving the winter as dormant turions which rest on the bottom as a submerged plant, rising again to the surface in spring. Likes slow moving freshwater such as ponds and canals.

European frogbit has a fast growth rate, and can quickly become an invasive species over a growing season if left unchecked.