States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaFloridaVirginia
Menu

American Eelgrass

Vallisneria americana

Found in lakes, rivers, estuaries, sounds. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

26
Good

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

Profile 88%

Height
About 1 foot
Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Standing water
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
July to October
Fruiting season
Summer

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 40 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 3

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.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Watauga Falls
Named place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 118 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Vallisneria

  • Elophila icciusalisPondside Pyralid, Pondside Crambid
  • Parapoynx allionealisWatermilfoil Leafcutter, Bladderwort Casemaker
  • Parapoynx obscuralisObscure Pondweed Moth
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
6BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Vallisneria

  • Aythya marilaGreater Scaup
  • Aythya valisineriaCanvasback
  • Cygnus columbianusTundra Swan
  • Cygnus olorMute Swan
  • Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
  • Mareca americanaAmerican Wigeon
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Hydrocharitaceae
Growth rate
Rapid
Growth habit
Spreads by runners
Foliage color
Green
Fruit begins
Summer
Fruit ends
Summer

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

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

American Eel Grass

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.

Choose a county to begin.

How to check your spot

Growing cautions

  • Spreads by runners. USDA PLANTS lists its growth form as stoloniferous. USDA PLANTS

For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.

Sources