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Spiked water-milfoil

Look out for the feathery leaves of Spiked water-milfoil just below the surface of streams, ditches, lakes and ponds; its red flowers emerge from the water in summer. It provides shelter for a range of aquatic wildlife.

Scientific name

Myriophyllum spicatum

When to see

January to December

Species information

Statistics

Height: up to 10cm Spread: 1-1.5m
Common.

About

Spiked water-milfoil is an aquatic plant, living submerged in slow-flowing streams and ditches, as well as lakes, ponds and flooded gravel pits. Its attractive, feathery leaves are held just below the surface of the water, but its tiny, reddish flowers emerge on spikes during June and July. It provides shelter for many aquatic creatures and emergent stems offer places for dragonflies and damselflies to alight and lay their eggs.

How to identify

The feathery leaves of Spiked water-milfoil are arranged in whorls of four or five. The spikes of reddish flowers appear above the water's surface in summer.

Distribution

Widespread throughout the UK's lowlands, with strongholds in England and Northern Ireland.

Did you know?

The closely related Parrot's Feather was introduced into the UK in the 1960s as a garden pond plant, but soon escaped into the countryside, probably as a result of garden waste containing fragments of it. It is now an invasive weed.