Encyclopedia - Plants for ponds
Frog-bit
Hydrocharis morsus-ranae
Frog-bit, or Common frog-bit — a species of aquatic plants in the genus Hydrocharis of the family Hydrocharitaceae.
The scientific name of the genus, Hydrocharis, comes from the Greek words «water» and «ornament, charm», that is, the plant's name can be translated as «ornament of the waters». The specific epithet is formed from the Latin/Greek morsus — bite and Greek rana — frog, i.e. «frog's bite».
Frog-bit is fairly widely distributed in nature, occurring from the tundra to the subtropical zone (Western and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Western Siberia, the western part of Eastern Siberia, East Kazakhstan, western China). It is a representative of the flora of the middle (temperate) zone of Ukraine and Russia. It most often grows on the coastal surfaces of ponds, lakes, oxbow lakes, and in quiet backwaters.
Perennial plant. Leaves rounded, cordately notched at the base, resembling water-lily leaves reduced in size, reaching 2.5-5 cm in diameter. Numerous fleshy roots with air cavities extend downward from the short stem. Thanks to this root structure the plant floats. Flowers are unisexual. It flowers with short-lived but successive white flowers throughout the summer. On some frog-bit plants there are pistillate (female) flowers, on others staminate (male) ones. Such plants are called dioecious. The flowers stand 3-5 cm above the water surface. Fruits develop rarely; the plant reproduces mainly vegetatively. From the short stem, like the "runners" of a strawberry, lateral shoots extend on which rosettes of young plants grow. In autumn the foliage dies back; the plant overwinters on the bottom of the pond as dormant buds, which rise to the surface at the beginning of summer and give rise to new plants. By autumn other shoots appear: thin ones with large buds at the ends. The buds fall to the bottom of the water body and overwinter there. In spring air cavities form in them, and the buds rise to the water surface. They give life to new plants. The overwintering buds of the frog-bit are covered with a mucous coating. They stick to the feet of birds and to the fur of aquatic mammals. Thus animals transfer this charming plant from one water body to another.
Planting: lower into the water in a sunny or partially shaded spot. Frog-bit grows well in both well-lit and slightly shaded bodies of water with still or slow-moving water.
Care: can tolerate frosty winters if the plant is submerged below the level of ice formation. Dr. D.G. Hessayon writes that "the plant is hardy — it tolerates not very severe winters. For the winter a few buds can be placed in a glass jar with water and soil, and in April take them out and throw them onto the muddy bottom of a pond." A. Marchenko notes that this plant "grows in artificial ponds without problems."
Propagation: by dividing shoots in March-April and by overwintering buds on the bottom.