|                    Carolina Mosquito Fern
                      |  
              
                |                    Azolla caroliniana  
                      |  
              
                |                    Azollaceae 
                      |  
  
              
                 Landscape Uses:
  | 
               
              
                 | 
                 Water gardens and ponds. | 
               
                Ecological Restoration Notes:  | 
               
              
                 | 
                  | 
               
              
                | Availability: | 
               
              
                 | 
                 Grown by enthusiasts. | 
               
              
                | Description: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Floating aquatic herbaceous fern. | 
               
              
                | Height: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 N/A; a floating aquatic. | 
               
              
                | Growth Rate: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Fast. | 
               
              
                | Range: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Widespread in the United States south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland; West Indies, southern Mexico, Central America and South America. | 
               
              
                | Habitats: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Freshwater ponds and swamps. | 
               
              
                | Soils: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 A floating aquatic in standing or flowing water. | 
               
              
                | Nutritional Requirements: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Low; it grows in nutirent poor water; it can become aggressive in nutrient-rich water. | 
               
              
                | Salt Water Tolerance: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water. | 
               
              
                | Salt Wind Tolerance: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Low; salt wind may burn the leaves. | 
               
              
                | Drought Tolerance: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought. | 
               
              
                | Light Requirements: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Full sun to light shade or moderate shade. | 
               
              
                | Flower Color: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 N/A. | 
               
              
                | Flower Characteristics: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 There are no flowers; the plants reproduce by spores. | 
               
              
                | Flowering Season: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 All year. | 
               
              
                | Fruit: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Inconspicuous spores. | 
               
              
                | Wildlife and Ecology: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                  | 
               
                     
                | Horticultural Notes: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                  | 
               
              
                | Comments: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 See a 2019 post on the Treasure Coast Natives blog on the relationship between barnyard grass and Carolina mosquito fern. | 
               
              |  
            | 
          
            
            
      
         | 
         
 
   |