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Carolina Mosquito-fern

Azolla caroliniana

Found in stagnant waters of interdune ponds, limesink ponds, old millponds, beaver ponds, floodplain sloughs, often locally abundant. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

15
Modest

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 82%

Light
Full sun, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Moist to standing water
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Annual
Bloom
June to September

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves

Height: NC species account not read yet.

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

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

Recorded in 41 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

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

1 of 4

Coastal dunes and beaches

Core Banks dunes, June 2013
Dune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond
Regional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Azolla

  • Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Salviniaceae
Hardiness
Zones 7a–11b
Flower color
Not applicable

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Azolla filiculoides; Carolina Mosquito Fern

Conservation status

Virginia rankS4
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

Will it fit your yard?

Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.

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How to check your spot

Sources