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Hydrilla verticillata
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THE CRIMES:Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) forms a dense mat of vegetation in the water. The hydrilla mats raise the pH, provide poor habitat for fish or other wildlife, limit water movement, decrease available oxygen, and shade out other aquatic plants. Boaters, people who fish, swimmers and water skiers get tangled in the dense mats of hydrilla. DESCRIPTION:Hydrilla is a water plant which looks like elodea and contains a long stem with many branches. It is different from other similar looking water plants due to the presence of buds (turions) and tubers at the end of the underground stems (rhizomes). The female flowers contain three translucent (see-through) petals and the male flowers have three whitish or reddish petals. The Interrogation
Where are you from?
I come from parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia.
How did you get here?
I came here during the 1950's as part of the aquarium trade.
Sometimes I will hitch a ride in the mail with water lilies. People plant the
water lilies and I escape and take over.
What’s your problem?
I love to make huge mats of friends and family. My reproduction
methods include spreading plant fragments, seeds, tubers, and turions. My growth rate
is faster than other plants, so I rob them of needed nutrients and shade. When I
dominate a lake, my large mats can suffocate native species like fish and native plants.
Boaters and people who fish do not realize when parts of my stem stick to their boat;
My parts stay attached until they enter a new waterway and I colonize the next area.
Waterfowl eat my turions and then regurgitate (throw up) them into new waterways. In
addition, my turions fall off my stem and drift to new locations to colonize other parts
of the water. My tubers are placed in the sediments and can remain there years until the
conditions are right for them to sprout and create a new stem.
How can we control you?
I am very difficult to get rid of. Many states spend millions each
year to get rid of me. My turions and tubers are resistant to ice, some herbicides, and
regurgitation from waterfowl. Triploid grass carp (sterile) like to eat me, but be
careful because they are illegal in most states and you do not know which plants they will
eat. People use some machines to pull me out of the water. The machines are effective in small
areas, but I grow really fast. My growth rate makes using machines really expensive and time
consuming. The best way to get rid of me is to use contact poison. However, you run the risk
of killing other plants and wildlife with this poison.
You need to be careful with me. The only way to control me is to not let me into your waterways. So, education is the best way to keep me out of your favorite lake or pond.
REWARD: The honor of protecting our water resources—A
healthier environment and more opportunities to enjoy our natural areas.
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