Myriophyllum spicatumL.

Eurasian WatermilfoilEurasian watermilfoilSpiked Water-milfoil

WFO wfo-0000373566 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Myriophyllum spicatum, photographed by chiuluan
fig. a chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-04-23 / obs. 190380338

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 102 botanical countries

Regions where Myriophyllum spicatum is native: Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Altay, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Aegean Is., Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Iraq, Irkutsk, Japan, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, Nansei-shoto, Palestine, Primorye, Qinghai, Sakhalin, Saudi Arabia, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Yemen, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sumatera, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Aleutian Is. AlgeriaBotswanaCameroonCape ProvincesEgyptEritreaEthiopiaFree StateKwaZulu-NatalMalawiMoroccoNamibiaNorthern ProvincesSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTunisiaZambiaZimbabweAfghanistanAltayChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastEast Aegean Is.HainanInner MongoliaIraqIrkutskJapanKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaManchuriaPalestinePrimoryeQinghaiSakhalinSaudi ArabiaTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaYemenEast HimalayaIndiaNepalPakistanPhilippinesSumateraVietnamWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine Canary Is.KoreaNansei-shotoBalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Myriophyllum spicatum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
East Aegean Is. EAI
Hainan CHH
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
Nansei-shoto NNS
Palestine PAL
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Sakhalin SAK
Saudi Arabia SAU
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Yemen YEM
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Botswana BOT
Cameroon CMN
Canary Is. CNY
Cape Provinces CPP
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Malawi MLW
Morocco MOR
Namibia NAM
Northern Provinces TVL
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Tunisia TUN
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
East Himalaya EHM ASIA-TROPICAL
India IND
Nepal NEP
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Sumatera SUM
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Aleutian Is. ALU NORTHERN AMERICA

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is., Great Britain, Aleutian Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 81 in flower of 265 examined

Proportion of examined Myriophyllum spicatum in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 0 2 too few examined
Feb 0 2 too few examined
Mar 1 10 10% 2% to 40%
Apr 1 15 7% 1% to 30%
May 3 19 16% 6% to 38%
Jun 6 25 24% 12% to 43%
Jul 10 42 24% 13% to 39%
Aug 34 69 49% 38% to 61%
Sep 23 58 40% 28% to 53%
Oct 3 14 21% 8% to 48%
Nov 0 7 0% 0% to 35%
Dec 0 2 too few examined

Peak flowering in Aug. Each bar is the share of Myriophyllum spicatum observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 81 of 265 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 3 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,991 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -14.6 °C -6.2 °C 6.0 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 21.7 °C 25.7 °C 31.4 °C
Annual rainfall 502 mm 948 mm 1,567 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 37 mm 164 mm 278 mm

It is found where winters bring hard frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,991 research-grade observations of Myriophyllum spicatum that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one. Climate from CHELSA V2.1 (Karger et al. 2017); occurrences from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 1 synonym

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Myriophyllum spicatum var. spicatum

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.