Carolina Mosquito Fern
Azolla caroliniana
Azollaceae


Landscape Uses:

Water gardens and ponds.

Ecological Restoration Notes:

Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description:
Floating aquatic herbaceous fern.
Height:
N/A; a floating aquatic.
Growth Rate:
Fast.
Range:
Widespread in the United States south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland; West Indies, southern Mexico, Central America and South America.
Habitats:
Freshwater ponds and swamps.
Soils:
A floating aquatic in standing or flowing water.
Nutritional Requirements:
Low; it grows in nutirent poor water; it can become aggressive in nutrient-rich water.
Salt Water Tolerance:
Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance:
Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance:
Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements:
Full sun to light shade or moderate shade.
Flower Color:
N/A.
Flower Characteristics:
There are no flowers; the plants reproduce by spores.
Flowering Season:
All year.
Fruit:
Inconspicuous spores.
Wildlife and Ecology:
Horticultural Notes:
Comments:
See a 2019 post on the Treasure Coast Natives blog on the relationship between barnyard grass and Carolina mosquito fern.


Shirley Denton
Shirley Denton
Keith A. Bradley