The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Myriophyllum aquaticum
Also called Parrot's Feather, Brazilian Water Milfoil, Thread Of Life, Water Feather, Brazilian Watermilfoil, Diamond Milfoil, Parrot Feather
Parrot feather watermilfoil is a perennial aquatic plant from South America, grown in ponds and aquariums for its feathery emergent stems. It is an aggressive spreader in the wild, so keep it contained and never release it into natural waterways.
Myriophyllum aquaticum is a flowering plant, a vascular dicot, commonly called parrot's-feather and parrot feather watermilfoil.
Parrot feather is native to the Amazon River in South America, but it can now be found on every continent except Antarctica. It is thought that this plant was introduced to North America around the late 1800s. It was first discovered in the United States in the 1890s in Washington, D.C. Parrot's feather typically grows in freshwater streams, ponds, lakes, rivers, and canals that have a high nutrient content. During the 20th century it colonised areas in South Africa, Japan, England, New Zealand, and Australia. As it prefers a warmer climate, it is chiefly found in the southern parts of the United States.
Parrot feather is now used in indoor and outdoor aquariums. It is a popular plant in aquatic gardens. It spreads easily and has become an invasive species and a noxious weed in many areas. The plant can be introduced to new areas when sections of its rhizome are dug up and moved. In Florida in the United States, flea beetles have been found to use parrot feather as a host for their larvae.
Alternateflower watermilfoil · Upright Water Milfoil · Western watermilfoil · Myriophyllum implicatum · Myriophyllum indicum · Cutleaf watermilfoil · Red Stemmed Parrot's Feather · Shortspike watermilfoil · Amphibious Water Milfoil · Spiked Water-milfoil · Myriophyllum variifolium · Whorl-leaf watermilfoil
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Myriophyllum aquaticum 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.
