Water soldier

• Still open water; canals, ditches, wetlands

• It is a freshwater floating plant with rosettes of sword-shaped serrated leaves. Female plants occur in Great Britain, and produce a single 3-petalled white-slightly pink flower. It becomes covered in calcium carbonate in autumn and sinks, before re-emerging in spring with new growth. It can reproduce vegetatively, meaning it can spread to new habitats.

© Lukáš Mareš

• It is native to temperate Asia and Europe.
• It is deemed invasive in Northern Ireland, the United States and Canada.

• It may alter water chemistry, which may harm aquatic fauna and flora. It is also known to spread vegetatively and may form large monoculture stands/mats.
• Its serrated leaves may injure recreational water users, and others who handle the plant.

• It may have been introduced as garden plant, and could have been introduced to the wild by garden escapes or by intentional releases.

• It is found in Northern Ireland in Fermanagh. 

• Ensure that it is not spread from already invaded areas.
• Ensure that equipment is checked, cleaned and dried before putting into another body of water. See Check Clean Dry for further information.
• Do not transplant from one area to another, including a privately owned pond.
• Report all sightings. 

• Stratiotes aloides is listed in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 and as such, under Article 15 it is an offence to plant or otherwise cause this species to grow in the wild.