I came from South America, specifically Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.

I was brought here because I'm very good at turning carbon dioxide into oxygen. That makes me a great plant to put in aquariums--I help keep the fish alive! But, when people aren't careful where they dump out their aquarium water, I make my escape into ponds and lakes--adeus, amigos!

My alias is "waterweed" because I grow in very dense beds on the bottoms of lakes and rivers, pretty much taking over. I can spread 100 acres every year--talk about "el grande!" I make it my business to take up so much space and grow so thickly that it's hard for water to move, which lowers water quality. I push out the other plants and animals that live in the water and I clog up water intake pipes. With me hanging around, people get angry--it's hard to row a boat through me, and you can forget about swimming, fishing or water skiing!

People have tried chopping me up, but that doesn't work- pieces of me can grow into whole new plants. I actually spread faster! Thank you very much! Obrigado muito muito! On the other hand, herbicides can slow me down. Sometimes humans have covered me with fabric to keep any light away from me. I can't live without light! In small ponds you can also get rid of me by draining most of the water out, but you might kill other plants and animals you want to live. Grass carp really like to eat me, but if you aren't careful the fish will eat up all the other plants in the water too.