Milfoil ²

Identification:
Milfoil is brownish green. It has lots of petals and is found in freshwater. Myriophyllum is its scientific name. “Myrio” means “too many to count” and “phylum” means “leaves”.

Some types of milfoil are native, but others are invasive. If the invasive types get into a large body of water it is a really hard or impossible to get out . Invasive Eurasian milfoil has aggressively invaded lakes and natural waterways in North America. Eurasian milfoil originates from Europe and Asia, but was introduced to North America many years ago and is now found over much of the United States. It is found in North America and Europe. The roots are under the water but it is sometimes found floating on top of the water.

Niche: Milfoil is a producer because animals eat milfoil. Fish eat milfoil and so do insects. This organism provides shelter for small animals like snails and insects.

If it is the invasive kind, It also changes the ecosystem by filling up the area so that no other weeds can get in and grow and if a plant tries to it cuts it out. It also decreases biodiversity because it does not let plant get in.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriophyllum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriophyllum_spicatum http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/weeds/milfoil.html http://www.ehow.com/info_12004017_eats-eurasian-milfoil.html

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Rob Curtis, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Rob Curtis
2. Adapted by paintedturtle4321 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriophyllum_hippuroides

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos

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