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Myriophyllum verticillatum
Also called Whorled leaf water milfoil, Whorled milfoil, Whorled Water-milfoil, Green Water Milfoil, Myriad Leaf, Verticillate Water Milfoil, Whorlleaf Watermilfoil
Whorl-leaf watermilfoil is a submerged aquatic plant of ponds, lakes and slow streams across the Northern Hemisphere, and it is invasive in many areas. It is grown mainly in water gardens and ponds, where it is best kept in check.
Myriophyllum verticillatum, the whorl-leaf watermilfoil or whorled water-milfoil, is a species of flowering plant native to much of North America, North Africa, and Eurasia. It closely resembles another native milfoil, called northern water milfoil (M. sibiricum). Whorled water milfoil is also easily confused with four types of invasive milfoils: Eurasian water milfoil (M. spicatum), Variable water-milfoil (M. heterophyllum), Parrot feather (M. aquaticum), and hybrid water milfoil (M. heterophyllum × M. laxum).
In many areas it is an invasive aquatic plant.
Whorled water-milfoil reproduces by producing turions between September and November each year. These over-wintering turions sink to the bottom of the floor where they remain dormant until February [Caffrey, 2006]. These fragments will give rise to numerous small thin roots that bed into soil to start growing in spring. The plants are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by wind.
Most whorled water milfoil occurs in semi-shallow ponds, lakes, marshes, ditches and slow running streams of lowland districts. Milfoil thrives in areas with a light sandy bottom and medium loamy soils. Overall, the plant grows best in still waters with alkaline soils. Whorled water milfoil is sometimes found with or near other aquatic plants, such as some types of pondweed (Potamogeton strictifolius) and (Potamogeton ogdenii), water star-grass (Heteranthera dubia) and water-marigold (Megalodonta beckii).
Alternateflower watermilfoil · Parrot feather 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
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Myriophyllum verticillatum 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.
