EPPO Global Database

• EPPO Code: PIIST
• Preferred name: Pistia stratiotes
• Authority: Linnaeus

An invasive water weed whose exact area of origin is not known. It now occurs widely in tropical and subtropical areas: Mediterranean (southeast), Western Asia, Himalayas, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indochina, Malesia, China, Africa generally, Madagascar, Mexico, USA (southeastern), Central America, Caribbean, South America (except southern cone), Australia (Northern, Queensland), New Guinea. Introduced in northern Mediterranean, Black Sea, Central Asia, Japan, southern USA