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Carolina fanwort

Cabomba caroliniana

Also called Carolina Water Shield, Fanwort, Washington Grass, Washington Plant, Fish Grass, Green Cabomba

Carolina fanwort
Photo: Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0

Carolina fanwort is a submerged, rhizomatous perennial aquatic plant with finely divided fan-shaped leaves, widely sold for aquariums and pond gardens. It needs clean, bright water and is invasive in parts of Europe and Australia, so never release it into the wild.

Family
Cabombaceae (Cabomb family)
Grows as
Aquatic, Perennial
Light
Bright indirect, Full sun
Water
Keep fully submerged in aquarium or pond water; it does not need watering in the usual sense.
Soil
Rooted in a nutrient-rich aquarium substrate or pond sediment, or left to float.
Temperature
15–28 °C; protect from freezing
How easy
Easy
Native range
C. & E. U.S.A. to NE. Mexico, Brazil to C. Argentina
Climate
subtropical

About

Cabomba caroliniana, commonly known as Carolina fanwort, is a rhizomatous, aquatic, perennial herb native to North and South America. Having been a popular aquarium plant, it has been exported around the world and has become an invasive species in Europe and Australia.

Where it grows

The species is native to southeastern South America (southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina), and the East and West Coasts of the United States. Outside of its natural range, it has been introduced to China, Austria, Germany, Great Britain, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Thailand.

Other Cabomba plants

Giant Cabomba · Carolina Fanwort · Cabomba caroliniana var. flavida · Carolina Fanwort · Forked fanwort · Fishgrass · Fish Grass · Giant Cabomba · Fanwort

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cabomba caroliniana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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