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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Home / Aquatic Invasives / Aquatic Plants / Water Hyacinth

Water Hyacinth

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Water hyacinth
Water hyacinth, plants at Mara River - Photo by Ted D. Center; USDA, Agricultural Research Service
Scientific Name: 
Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms (ITIS)
Common Name: 
Common water-hyacinth, floating water hyacinth
Native To: 
South America (Zhang et al. 2010)
Date of U.S. Introduction: 
1884 (Zhang et al. 2010)
Means of Introduction: 
Ornamental (Toft et al. 2003)
Impact: 
Forms dense colonies that block sunlight and crowd out native species (Toft et al. 2003)

Distribution / Maps / Survey Status

Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System (EDDMapS) - Common Water Hyacinth
University of Georgia. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.
Provides state, county, point and GIS data. Maps can be downloaded and shared.
Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database: Point Map - Floating Waterhyacinth
DOI. USGS. Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.
Provides detailed collection information as well as animated map.

Images

Google Images - Water Hyacinth
Google.
Invasive.org - Common Water Hyacinth
University of Georgia. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.

Videos

YouTube - Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Google. YouTube; University of Florida. IFAS. Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants.

Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source. Or, to display all related content view all resources for Water Hyacinth.

Council or Task Force
Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands - Eichhornia crassipes

California Invasive Plant Council.

In online book: Bossard, C.C., J.M. Randall, and M.C. Hoshovsky (Editors). 2000. Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA
Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council Invasive Plant Manual - Water Hyacinth
Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council.
Species of Concern Fact Sheet: Water Hyacinth
Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force.
Partnership
Global Invasive Species Database - Eichhornia crassipes (aquatic plant)
IUCN. Species Survival Commission. Invasive Species Specialist Group.
Invaders Factsheet: Water Hyacinth
Ontario's Invading Species Awareness Program (Canada).
Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States - Water Hyacinth
University of Georgia. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.
Invasive Species Compendium - Eichhornia crassipes
CAB International.
Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) - Eichhornia crassipes
USDA. FS. Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry.
Plantwise Technical Factsheet - Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)
CABI. Plantwise Knowledge Bank.
Texas Invasives Database - Eichhornia crassipes
TexasInvasives.org.
The Quiet Invasion: A Guide to Invasive Species of the Galveston Bay Area - Common Water Hyacinth

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Galveston Bay Estuary Program; Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC).

Weeds Australia - Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Centre for Invasive Species Solutions; Atlas of Living Australia; Australian Government. Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment.

Federal Government
Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory - Eichhornia crassipes
Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce.
Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database: Fact Sheet - Floating Waterhyacinth
DOI. USGS. Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.
Provides distribution maps and collection information (State and County).
PLANTS Database - Common Water Hyacinth
USDA. NRCS. National Plant Data Center.
U.S. National Plant Germplasm System - Eichhornia crassipes

USDA. ARS. National Genetic Resources Program. GRIN-Global.

International Government
NSW WeedWise: Water hyacinth
New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (Australia).
Invasive Plants: Restricted Invasive Plants - Water Hyacinth

Business Queensland (Australia).

State and Local Government
Freshwater Invasive Species in Rhode Island: Water Hyacinth (Nov 2017) (PDF | 1.61 MB)

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. Office of Water Resources.

See also: Aquatic Invasive Plants for species of concern

Water Hyacinth

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Weed Alerts: Water Hyacinth
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Academic
AQUAPLANT - Water Hyacinth
Texas A&M University. AgriLife Extension Service. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences.
Introduced Species Summary Project - Water Hyacinth
Columbia University. Center for Environmental Research and Conservation.
Plant Profile: Eichhornia crassipes

University of Florida. IFAS. Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants.

Citations