Vallisneria spiralisL.

Tapegrasseelgrassstraight vallistape grasstapegrass

WFO wfo-0000770262 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Vallisneria spiralis, photographed by Юрий Данилевский (Yuriy Danilevsky)
fig. a Юрий Данилевский (Yuriy Danilevsky), CC BY 4.0 / 2021-11-06 / obs. 167562556
Vallisneria spiralis, photographed by National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project
fig. b National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 162394161
Vallisneria spiralis, photographed by Olena V. Vakarenko
fig. c Olena V. Vakarenko, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 180940400
Vallisneria spiralis, photographed by Olena V. Vakarenko
fig. d Olena V. Vakarenko, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 179496594
Vallisneria spiralis, photographed by S.MORE
fig. e S.MORE, CC0 1.0 / obs. 106550864
Vallisneria spiralis, photographed by Марина Давлетшина
fig. f Марина Давлетшина, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 153973191
Vallisneria spiralis, photographed by Марина Давлетшина
fig. g Марина Давлетшина, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 152475411
Vallisneria spiralis, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. h Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204327445

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 59 botanical countries

Regions where Vallisneria spiralis is native: Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Tadzhikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Assam, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, West Himalaya, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Romania, South European Russia, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaBotswanaBurundiCaprivi StripCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEgyptEquatorial GuineaEthiopiaGhanaKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMalawiMaliMozambiqueNamibiaNigeriaRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabweAfghanistanIranIraqKazakhstanKirgizstanLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusPalestineTadzhikistanTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanWest SiberiaAssamBangladeshIndiaMyanmarPakistanSri LankaThailandWest HimalayaBulgariaFranceGreeceItalyNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalRomaniaSouth European RussiaSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine
Native distribution of Vallisneria spiralis, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Botswana BOT
Burundi BUR
Caprivi Strip CPV
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Egypt EGY
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Ethiopia ETH
Ghana GHA
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Nigeria NGA
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Tadzhikistan TZK
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Bulgaria BUL EUROPE
France FRA
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
India IND
Myanmar MYA
Pakistan PAK
Sri Lanka SRL
Thailand THA
West Himalaya WHM

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.

Where it actually grows measured, from 174 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -10.8 °C -1.2 °C 16.1 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 22.6 °C 25.3 °C 30.6 °C
Annual rainfall 466 mm 797 mm 1,685 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 29 mm 111 mm 193 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 174 research-grade observations of Vallisneria spiralis 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.

Also published as 13 synonyms

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.

  • Vallisneria aethiopica Fenzl
  • Vallisneria jacquiniana Spreng.
  • Vallisneria jacquinii Savi
  • Vallisneria linnet Bercht. & J.Presl
  • Vallisneria micheliana Spreng.
  • Vallisneria michelii Savi
  • Vallisneria numidica Pomel
  • Vallisneria pusilla Barbieri ex Bertol.
  • Vallisneria spiralis f. aethiopica (Fenzl) T.Durand & Schinz
  • Vallisneria spiralis subvar. jacquinii (Savi) Nyman
  • Vallisneria spiralis subvar. michelii (Savi) Nyman
  • Vallisneria spiralis var. numidica (Pomel) Maire & Weiller
  • Vallisneria spiralis var. pusilla (Barbieri ex Bertol.) Nyman

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.