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.

Lesser Black-backed Gull
Larus fuscus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Lesser Yellowlegs
Tringa flavipes
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Little Blue Heron
Egretta caerulea
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Merlin
Falco columbarius
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Mottled Duck
Anas fulvigula
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Northern Waterthrush
Seiurus noveboracensis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Orchard Oriole
Icterus spurius
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Ovenbird
Seiurus aurocapilla
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Painted Bunting
Passerina ciris
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Purple Gallinule
Porphyrio martinica
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Red-shouldered Hawk
Buteo lineatus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpres
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Sandhill Crane
Grus canadensis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Summer Tanager
Piranga rubra
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Swallow-tailed Kite
Elanoides forficatus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
White-crowned Sparrow
Zonotrichia leucophrys
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Wilson's Plover
Charadrius wilsonia
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Wood Stork
Mycteria americana
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.