Water lettuce can reproduce sexually and asexually.
Sexual reproduction
- Water lettuce produces small flowers that develop into green berries after fertilization.
Asexual reproduction
- Vegetative reproduction:
- The mother plant produces stolons, or runners, that extend horizontally.
- Each stolon grows a new rosette, which is a small plantlet attached to the mother plant.
- The daughter plants remain connected to the mother plant by the stolon.
- Wind, animals, and boats can break the stolons, allowing the new plants to spread.
How water lettuce spreads
- Water lettuce can spread by fragmentation, seeds, or daughter plants.
- It can spread accidentally when it escapes from ponds and water gardens.
- It can spread intentionally when people release extra plants into natural systems.
- It can spread when boat trailers or live wells catch rosettes.