Water Gardeners and Aquarium Owners

Beware - In the State of Maine it is illegal to sell, posses, cultivate, import or introduce to Maine waters eleven invasive aquatic plants.  All of the aquatic plants below have pseudonyms or aliases.  Common names are sometimes used interchangeably for several different species, so you could accidentally buy an invasive species labeled with a harmless pseudonym.  To avoid this be sure to  verify the scientific name when purchasing aquatic plants .  Below is a list of Maine's illegal aquatic plants organized by scientific name, common name and known pseudonyms.

ILLEGAL FOR SALE IN MAINE

(Scientific Name - Genus & Species - followed by common names and aliases)

• Cabomba caroliniana (Fanword, Carolina Fanword)
• Egeria densa (Brazilian Elodea)
  • Anacharis
  • Anacharis densa
  • Anacharis canadensis gigantea
  • Elodea
  • Elodea densa
  • Elodea canadensis gigantea
  • Brazilian Waterweed
  • Common Waterweed
  • Leavy Elodea
• Hydrilla verticillata (Hydrilla, Water Thyme)
• Hydrocharis morsus-ranae (Frogbit, Eropean Frogbit)
• Myriophyllum aquaticum (Parrot Feather)
  • Myriophyllum aquatica
  • Myriophyllum proserpinacoides
  • Brazilian Watermilfoil
• Myriophyllum heterophyllum (Variable-leaf Watermilfoil)
  • Myriophyllum spp.
  • Myriophyllum pinnatum
  • Two-leaf Watermilfoil
• Myrophyllum spacatum (Erasian Watermilfoil)
  • Myriophyllum spp.
  • Spiked Watermilfoil
• Najas minor (Europea Naiad, Brittle Water-nymph)
• Nymphoides peltata (Yellow Floating Heart)
• Potamogeton crispus (Curly-leaf Pondweed)
• Trapa natans (Water Chestnut)

Link to Florida's Center for Aquatic Plants web site http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/seagrant/whatido.html to read what you can do to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic plants.  This site contains a colorful brochure targeted at plant enthusiasts.