Common Water-hyacinth

Eichhornia crassipes

In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in ponds, ditches, sluggish water. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you

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Severe harm

Not native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 59%

Light: Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture: Wet to standing water

Oshuna crassipes — whole photograph — Wilfredor · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original photograph

Do not plant. Listed invasive in Louisiana.

At a glance

Bloom: June to September

JFMAMJJASOND

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 50 Louisiana parishes.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Louisiana. Shared habitat, not food. 139 animals.

Bell's Vireo
Vireo bellii
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Archilochus alexandri
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Blue-winged Teal
Anas discors
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Bonaparte's Gull
Chroicocephalus philadelphia
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Brown Thrasher
Toxostoma rufum
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Brown-headed Cowbird
Molothrus ater
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Caspian Tern
Hydroprogne caspia
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Chipping Sparrow
Spizella passerina
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Common Grackle
Quiscalus quiscula
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Dunlin
Calidris alpina
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Eastern Bluebird
Sialia sialis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Eastern Phoebe
Sayornis phoebe
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Eastern Towhee
Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Fox Sparrow
Passerella iliaca
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Gadwall
Anas strepera
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Glossy Ibis
Plegadis falcinellus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Great Crested Flycatcher
Myiarchus crinitus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Great-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus mexicanus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Greater White-fronted Goose
Anser albifrons
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Greater Yellowlegs
Tringa melanoleuca
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Henslow's Sparrow
Ammodramus henslowii
Birds. 1 shared habitat
King Rail
Rallus elegans
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Lapland Longspur
Calcarius lapponicus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Least Flycatcher
Empidonax minimus
Birds. 1 shared habitat

Widespread birds also seen here (17)

Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.

All wildlife of Louisiana

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

10CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA

Genus host records with ranges including LA · Eichhornia

Bellura densaPickerel Weed Border Moth, Pickerelweed Diver
Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
Herpetogramma bipunctalisSouthern Beet Webworm, Two-Spotted Herpetogramma
Samea multiplicalisSalvinia Stem-borer Moth
Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
Spodoptera dolichosSweetpotato Armyworm, Dolichos Armyworm, Large Cotton Armyworm
Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Spodoptera latifasciaOrange-Striped Armyworm, Velvet Armyworm Moth
Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

—Specialist beesPollen specialists

1BirdsRecorded eating Eichhornia in Louisiana

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes Louisiana, most records first.