This is the only invasive lily pad found in Maine and it was first discovered in Cobbossee Lake in 2018. The Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed run a plant control program in the lake, combatting variable and Eurasian milfoil and frogsbit. Photo courtesy of the Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed
European frog’s-bit is a free-floating plant with clustered heart-shaped leaves. New growth sprouts from trailing runners, or stolons, and from turions, buds that lie dormant during the winter months. White flowers with three petals and yellow centers bloom in the summer. European Frog’s-bit is native to Europe. It was introduced to North America in the 1930s as an ornamental pond plant. It grows in dense mats that block light to native plants. As they decay these mats deplete oxygen needed by fish. They also impede recreational water activities like swimming, boating, and fishing. European frog’s-bit has been reported in Maine, Vermont, New York, and several Canadian provinces.
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