Scientific Name:
Azolla filiculoides
Pronunciation:
uh-ZOLL-uh fih-lick-you-loe-EYE-deez
Common Name:
Fairy moss, mosquito fern
Family Name:
Salviniaceae
Plant Type:
Aquatic plant, Fern, Herbaceous perennial
Key ID Features:
Rapidly expanding tiny fern on still water surfaces with dark brown-black rhizoids; fronds densely overlapping, forming moss-like mats mostly 2-6cm long of foliage about 1mm long; sporangia <1mm long form in summer on upper surface.
Habit:
Horizontal, Spreading
Form:
Creeping / Mat-like
Texture:
Fine
Mature Height:
< 0.1m
Mature Spread:
< 0.1m
Growth Rate:
Fast
Origin:
South America
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 7: (-18 to -12 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Water Use:
Aquatic
Landscape Uses:
Aquatic - ponds
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple, Lobed, Fern-like
Arrangement:
Imbricate
Texture/Venation:
Soft flexible
Surfaces:
Pubescent
Colour in Summer:
Green, Pink, Purple, bright green but may develop purplish-rose tints in full sun and then reddish-purple in fall
Colour in Fall:
Purple, Red
Shapes:
Reniform
Apices:
Rounded
Bases:
Rounded
Margins:
Entire
Inflorescence Type:
Flower Morphology:
Number Of Petals:
0
Colour (petals):
No flowers
Flower Time at Peak:
Fruit Type:
Sporangium (spores)
Fruit Colour:
Brown
Fruiting Time:
Jul, Aug
Additional Info:
Not showy
Bark or Stem Colour:
n/a
Organ Modifications:
Leaf cavities host to a N-fixing cyanobacterium, Anabaena azollae
Propagation:
Eye (leaf bud) cuttings
Maintenance:
High
Pest Susceptibility:
(Pest resistant, Disease resistant, Rabbit resistant)
Specific Pests:
(May help to prevent algal blooms)
Course(s):
- not used (on campus)
Location(s):
- (PHA) PolyHouse and Area : In water feature in front of PH#1