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Hydrocharis spongia
Also called Frogbite
American spongeplant is a small floating aquatic plant native to the southeastern United States, grown mainly to shade pond and aquarium fauna. Keep it in still or slow water in full sun, and watch its tendency to spread in warm climates.
Hydrocharis spongia, also known as Limnobium spongia, and commonly known as the American frogbit or the American spongeplant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrocharitaceae. It is native to the central and southeastern United States, where it grows in the Lower Mississippi Valley as far north as Illinois, and on the Southern Coastal Plain from Texas to Delaware. It is occasionally found elsewhere as a waif. It grows in the slow-moving water of streams, bayous, and lakes from sea level up to 100 meters elevation.
The primary use for cultivating Hydrocharis spongia is to provide shade for fish or other aquatic fauna in domestic tanks, ponds, or pools. American Frog-bit prefers full sun, and blooms during the summer. Stagnant or slow-moving water is preferred, and it can spread aggressively in areas with warm climates. A fungal disease, known as Cercospora limnobii, can cause brown lesions to develop on the leaf blades.
The native range of Hydrocharis spongia is predominantly the southeastern United States, with it specifically being present in: Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. It is sometimes rare in the northeastern areas of its native range, such as Illinois. Its preferred habitat include sloughs, ditches, swampy forests, in slow-moving or stagnant water with muddy substrate.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hydrocharis spongia 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.
