OFFER: American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia) (you pay shipping or will trade for plastic planters)

[Phaewryn]

My American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia) has really taken off and is now filling up nearly half my pond and getting to be where it's hard to see the fish. Looking to give some away to interested parties (you just pay the shipping). Obviously it would need to go Priority Mail and likely won't survive going south in the heat, but if you're in a region that's not much over 80 degrees currently and want some, I can ship you some. Mine came wrapped in damp paper towels in a bag, assuming I can ship it that way since it worked for me. This started out as 6 little pieces! Grows fast. You can just toss it in like shown below as a floating plant, or you can plant it in a planter under water or as a marginal/bog plant and it will grow more upright (so I'm told, have not done it that way yet because I need a planter). If you plant it, it won't send out runners that float. It will root in the margin in a natural (not preformed or lined) pond (if it has access to soil and shallow water) and grow upright without floating runners (making it a bog plant). If you don't want it to do this, keep it contained in a floating planter in the pond away from soil. Couldn't be any easier to grow. Just toss it in and forget it. Note that it likes to get stuck in the waterfall and makes a little foam as shown in the pic below when that happens. It doesn't hurt the plants, but if you don't like foam you might want to keep it away from waterfalls (contained in a floating planter or ring). It may be eaten by bigger fish like goldfish/koi (my guppies don't bother). It's doing well here in partial (half day) sun, but can also do well in full sun. According to one website, it's hardy in zones 4-10, prefers water temperatures between 64-86 degrees (F), and will form buds that winter over at the bottom of the pond until spring. Mine was in 55-60 degree water at first and was fine. Personally, I wouldn't trust it to overwinter outside in northern climates, but since it does well in an aquarium or container indoors with grow lights, it can just come inside and go out next spring. Does also make a good aquarium plant if you have good lighting.

I'm looking to give some away, you pay shipping, or we can trade if you have a 6-8" shallow plastic pond planter, preferably 6-8" round x 5-7" deep (you ship me your planter, I ship you some Frogbit, we call it even). I'm also seeking to buy these planters (for cheaper than on Amazon). I need about half a dozen of them for marginals I've started inside.

This is a native plant in parts of the USA. Legal in most states (I will not ship to California since it is considered a noxious weed there). There are several plants called Frogbit. This is American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia), not South American/Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum), or European Frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae) which are considered invasive and controlled in many states.

More info:
https://www.eddmaps.org/species/subject.cfm?sub=12814
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/limnobium-spongia/
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=LISP2
https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/sponge_plant.html
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/77751-Limnobium-spongia
https://aquaplant.tamu.edu/plant-identification/alphabetical-index/frogs-bit/
https://agrilife.org/aquaplant/plant-identification/alphabetical-index/frogs-bit/
https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=12814
https://www.calflora.org//cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=10623

How it looks as a free-floating pond plant (in my pond):

How it (supposedly) looks as a rooted marginal in shallow water (not my photo):

Willing to trade for planter(s) as shown below (you ship me small 6" to medium 8" planters like circled below, I ship you some Frogbit, even trade since we're both paying shipping fees):

PM me for details or to discuss (possibly open to other trades as well: other plants, nicely colored guppies).

 

[TheFishGuy]

My American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia) has really taken off and is now filling up nearly half my pond and getting to be where it's hard to see the fish. Looking to give some away to interested parties (you just pay the shipping). Obviously it would need to go Priority Mail and likely won't survive going south in the heat, but if you're in a region that's not much over 80 degrees currently and want some, I can ship you some. Mine came wrapped in damp paper towels in a bag, assuming I can ship it that way since it worked for me. This started out as 6 little pieces! Grows fast. You can just toss it in like shown below as a floating plant, or you can plant it in a planter under water or as a marginal/bog plant and it will grow more upright (so I'm told, have not done it that way yet because I need a planter). If you plant it, it won't send out runners that float. It will root in the margin in a natural (not preformed or lined) pond (if it has access to soil and shallow water) and grow upright without floating runners (making it a bog plant). If you don't want it to do this, keep it contained in a floating planter in the pond away from soil. Couldn't be any easier to grow. Just toss it in and forget it. Note that it likes to get stuck in the waterfall and makes a little foam as shown in the pic below when that happens. It doesn't hurt the plants, but if you don't like foam you might want to keep it away from waterfalls (contained in a floating planter or ring). It may be eaten by bigger fish like goldfish/koi (my guppies don't bother). It's doing well here in partial (half day) sun, but can also do well in full sun. According to one website, it's hardy in zones 4-10, prefers water temperatures between 64-86 degrees (F), and will form buds that winter over at the bottom of the pond until spring. Mine was in 55-60 degree water at first and was fine. Personally, I wouldn't trust it to overwinter outside in northern climates, but since it does well in an aquarium or container indoors with grow lights, it can just come inside and go out next spring. Does also make a good aquarium plant if you have good lighting.

I'm looking to give some away, you pay shipping, or we can trade if you have a 6-8" shallow plastic pond planter, preferably 6-8" round x 5-7" deep (you ship me your planter, I ship you some Frogbit, we call it even). I'm also seeking to buy these planters (for cheaper than on Amazon). I need about half a dozen of them for marginals I've started inside.

This is a native plant in parts of the USA. Legal in most states (I will not ship to California since it is considered a noxious weed there). There are several plants called Frogbit. This is American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia), not South American/Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum), or European Frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae) which are considered invasive and controlled in many states.

More info:
https://www.eddmaps.org/species/subject.cfm?sub=12814
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/limnobium-spongia/
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=LISP2
https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/sponge_plant.html
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/77751-Limnobium-spongia
https://aquaplant.tamu.edu/plant-identification/alphabetical-index/frogs-bit/
https://agrilife.org/aquaplant/plant-identification/alphabetical-index/frogs-bit/
https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=12814
https://www.calflora.org//cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=10623

How it looks as a free-floating pond plant (in my pond):
View attachment 131559
View attachment 131560
View attachment 131549

How it (supposedly) looks as a rooted marginal in shallow water (not my photo):
View attachment 131558

Willing to trade for planter(s) as shown below (you ship me small 6" to medium 8" planters like circled below, I ship you some Frogbit, even trade since we're both paying shipping fees):
View attachment 131550

PM me for details or to discuss (possibly open to other trades as well: other plants, nicely colored guppies).

holy cow thats some nice looking plants! I WOULD love to take that deal but I cant right now, I am sure soemone very soone will take you up on your offer though

 

[AlyssaFish]

I literally just bought 10 of these yesterday at my local pond store, after waiting all spring for them to show up! Figures this would happen! xD

If you don't get any takers, I'm interested--but I think it's only fair to give other people a chance first, considering how difficult it was for me to get a hold of this freakin' plant this year.

 

[Phaewryn]

I literally just bought 10 of these yesterday at my local pond store, after waiting all spring for them to show up! Figures this would happen! xD If you don't get any takers, I'm interested--but I think it's only fair to give other people a chance first, considering how difficult it was for me to get a hold of this freakin' plant this year.

Bummer, I wish I would have posted them last week. They really took off in the past 2 weeks. It was only this week that I went to check on my fish and realized the frogbit was getting a bit out of control.

So far three takers, I'm sure I have enough for at least 5 people, more if you're OK with babies. Here's some pics that show the size range I can ship (I think I can get maybe 2-3 bigger ones and several babies in a single small Priority Mail Flat rate box, which is the plan and costs $8.30 - they might go cheaper but I won't know til I ship the first round and see if they can go cheaper in a different box. Or you can pick up in person free if you're in the area: Springfield, VT. 05156). If you miss this round, just wait a few weeks and I'm sure I'll have more to give away. Probably next year too. No-one need buy this again ever at this rate of growth I can supply half of America. My 60 gallon pond can only fit so much of this stuff.

Average size:

Medium size:

Small/Compact:

Baby:

 

[Phaewryn]

Here's how fast it grows. This photo was taken when I added the ones I bought (6) to the pond on June 15th:

 

[poconojoe]

I'm interested, but how do I send you the money? Gladly just round it off to $10.

 

[Phaewryn]

I'm interested, but how do I send you the money? Gladly just round it off to $10.

I have a paypal account, or you can pop me some well hidden cash in the mail (or a check/money order I suppose, sometimes my online banking app works). PM me if your shipping address and we can discuss shipping. You might have something I'd trade for as well? I'd take all sorts of things: aquatic mint, lemon bacopa, rotala, green creeping jenny (mine is the yellowish kind and I like the green more): tell me what you have (or pop me some pics of your pond) and I am sure we can do an even trade for something. I'm also interested in low ground groundcovers (non-aquatic). So if you like, have a hunk of creeping phlox you can divide, or something like that...

 

[poconojoe]

I have a paypal account, or you can pop me some well hidden cash in the mail (or a check/money order I suppose, sometimes my online banking app works). PM me if your shipping address and we can discuss shipping. You might have something I'd trade for as well? I'd take all sorts of things: aquatic mint, lemon bacopa, rotala, green creeping jenny (mine is the yellowish kind and I like the green more): tell me what you have (or pop me some pics of your pond) and I am sure we can do an even trade for something. I'm also interested in low ground groundcovers (non-aquatic). So if you like, have a hunk of creeping phlox you can divide, or something like that...

Ok, I'll take some pictures tomorrow. We have a lot of plants.

 

[Phaewryn]

I just want to let any interested parties know that I am not 100% sure this is AMERICAN Frogbit (Limnobium spongia). I purchased it as American Frogbit at https://pondmegastore.com/products/frogbit-limnobium-spongia, but the more I look at it and pictures of American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia) online, the more I think maybe I got sent Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) or at least a hybrid of some type. You be the judge, here's more photos of my frogbit (which was sold to me as AMERICAN Frogbit, Limnobium spongia):

Here's some photos of both kinds from trusted sources online.
Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) (left, green) & American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia) (right, green/brown, smaller cells):

Top side comparison (as labelled):

Verified/confirmed Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum):

Verified/confirmed American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia):

And more info:
https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weeds/south-american-spongeplant
https://weeds.brisbane.qld.gov.au/weeds/amazon-frogbit
https://idtools.org/id/appw/factsheet.php?name=16019

I wonder if it is possible to have a hybrid? Mine looks halfway between the two to me? I'm not sure what I should do? Amazon Frogbit is illegal here, and this was sold to me as native, American Frogbit. What do you guys think? The store I purchased it from has a bit of a bad reputation for having a not very nice owner (I knew that going in), but not for sending illegal plants (as far as I know).

 

[Tula]

Do you still have any available ?

 

[TheFishGuy]

I just want to let any interested parties know that I am not 100% sure this is AMERICAN Frogbit (Limnobium spongia). I purchased it as American Frogbit at https://pondmegastore.com/products/frogbit-limnobium-spongia, but the more I look at it and pictures of American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia) online, the more I think maybe I got sent Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) or at least a hybrid of some type. You be the judge, here's more photos of my frogbit (which was sold to me as AMERICAN Frogbit, Limnobium spongia):
View attachment 131833
View attachment 131825View attachment 131827View attachment 131828View attachment 131829View attachment 131830

Here's some photos of both kinds from trusted sources online.
Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) (left, green) & American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia) (right, green/brown, smaller cells):
View attachment 131837
Top side comparison (as labelled):
View attachment 131838
Verified/confirmed Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum):
View attachment 131836
Verified/confirmed American Frogbit (Limnobium spongia):
View attachment 131835

And more info:
https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weeds/south-american-spongeplant
https://weeds.brisbane.qld.gov.au/weeds/amazon-frogbit
https://idtools.org/id/appw/factsheet.php?name=16019

I wonder if it is possible to have a hybrid? Mine looks halfway between the two to me? I'm not sure what I should do? Amazon Frogbit is illegal here, and this was sold to me as native, American Frogbit. What do you guys think? The store I purchased it from has a bit of a bad reputation for having a not very nice owner (I knew that going in), but not for sending illegal plants (as far as I know).

I think that as long as it was sold to you as american, since you bought it online you most deffinitly have some record of the purchase because it was online, the only trouble anyone could get in would be the company, and as long as you dont release any inot the wild you should be good

and lets be honest whose coming onto your property to inspect which variety of a singular non harmful plant you have in your contained 60 gallon pond

 

[Phaewryn]

Do you still have any available ?

Yes!

 

[Phaewryn]

I think that as long as it was sold to you as american, since you bought it online you most deffinitly have some record of the purchase because it was online, the only trouble anyone could get in would be the company, and as long as you dont release any inot the wild you should be good
and lets be honest whose coming onto your property to inspect which variety of a singular non harmful plant you have in your contained 60 gallon pond

It's not illegal here as it turns out (it's the other kind of frogbit that's illegal: Hydrocharis morsus-ranae), it's just also not native (I was really trying to be as native as possible). I really do like it so I'm not even all that upset now that I know it's not illegal.

 

[Riftlake]

From reading several descriptions and examining many photos, I believe you have the real deal there. It appears to have the spongy pad in the center of the underside of the leaves. There seems to be quite a bit of variation in the different photos I've seen of the plant. Maybe when it blooms you can identify it for sure.

 

[Phaewryn]

From reading several descriptions and examining many photos, I believe you have the real deal there. It appears to have the spongy pad in the center of the underside of the leaves. There seems to be quite a bit of variation in the different photos I've seen of the plant. Maybe when it blooms you can identify it for sure.

Yes, blooms will be helpful. In the meantime, the store I purchased it from responded to my email asking if they hadn't made a mistake and (rudely) told me there is only one species of Limnobium Richard, so I've decided to reach out to a higher authority (all of them) for clarification. Here's my email to the Interagency Taxonomic Information System Taxonomy Work Group, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. Hopefully this will clear things up. If there is indeed only one species then that is interesting for sure!

Hello. I purchased some Limnobium Richard and can't determine which species it is. Who would I contact to get clarification about the classification of an aquatic plant as a specific species?​

​

The person I purchased it from says that there is only one species of Limnobium Richard but all the reputable sources I can find say that there is both Limnobium laevigatum and Limnobium spongia and that they are not the same. The store I purchased mine from says:​

"There is no Amazon frogbit. There are 2 species, American and European. The amazon was a misclassification and doesn't even exist. We have been part of the IWGS for 20 years and [the one we sell] is the native north American species. This has been discussed recently by many members and nobody has any seen or been able to locate amazon frogbit."​

I'd like to know if this is true, and if not, which one I have. From my very amateur eye, mine looks like Limnobium laevigatum based on the green underside and larger cells, but the store I purchased it from is adamant that Limnobium laevigatum doesn't exist and that he sold me Limnobium spongia (which is what I wanted).​

​

I've attached a couple photos in case that would expedite the conversation. I'm happy to send a sample if helpful.​

​

If you could put me in contact with someone who can assist me, it would be greatly appreciated. I was trying so hard to not bring in a non-native species so it's disappointing that the Limnobium spongia I ordered doesn't look like Limnobium spongia after looking so hard to find Limnobium spongia instead of Limnobium laevigatum. I'm not sure what I should do now, but mostly I just want to be able to correctly identify it because I own it and it's growing and I will be needing to give some away and I can't do that (ethically) if it's not the native American variety (or can I, I don't really know, perhaps you can educate me on this matter?). Certainly the combined knowledge of the Interagency Taxonomic Information System Taxonomy Work Group, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy know better than the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society, but if not, shouldn't these databases (at your organizations) be updated with the correct taxonomy indicating that there is only one species of Limnobium Richard?​

​

I look forward to your response.​