Index / Search / Vallisneria americana
§1 Plant
Vallisneria americana Michx.
vernacular American eelgrass — species · Hydrocharitaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Monocot
- Family
- Hydrocharitaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Vallisneria
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 483 counties across 33 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- None
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- High
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- High
- CaCO₃
- Medium
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -33 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 90 min.
- pH range
- 5–8.8
- Root depth
- 0 in min.
- Fertility need
- Medium
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Stoloniferous
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Lifespan
- Short
- Mature height
- 1 ft
- Foliage texture
- Fine
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Fruit colour
- Green
- Fire resistant
- Yes
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Mid Summer
- Seed abundance
- Low
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Moderate
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 135,000
- Propagation
- seed, sprigs
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- No
- Palatable, human
- No
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 483 counties across 33 states/territories.
Alabama view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 35 N ▾
- Alachua 12001
- Bay 12005
- Brevard 12009
- Broward 12011
- Calhoun 12013
- Citrus 12017
- Clay 12019
- Collier 12021
- Columbia 12023
- DeSoto 12027
- Duval 12031
- Franklin 12037
- Gilchrist 12041
- Glades 12043
- Hendry 12051
- Hernando 12053
- Jackson 12063
- Jefferson 12065
- Lake 12069
- Levy 12075
- Marion 12083
- Miami-Dade 12086
- Okeechobee 12093
- Orange 12095
- Palm Beach 12099
- Pasco 12101
- Pinellas 12103
- Polk 12105
- Putnam 12107
- Santa Rosa 12113
- Seminole 12117
- Sumter 12119
- Suwannee 12121
- Wakulla 12129
- Walton 12131
Georgia view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 18 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 18 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 49 N ▾
- Alger 26003
- Allegan 26005
- Antrim 26009
- Barry 26015
- Berrien 26021
- Branch 26023
- Cass 26027
- Charlevoix 26029
- Cheboygan 26031
- Chippewa 26033
- Clare 26035
- Emmet 26047
- Gogebic 26053
- Grand Traverse 26055
- Gratiot 26057
- Houghton 26061
- Ingham 26065
- Iosco 26069
- Iron 26071
- Isabella 26073
- Jackson 26075
- Kalamazoo 26077
- Kent 26081
- Keweenaw 26083
- Lenawee 26091
- Livingston 26093
- Luce 26095
- Mackinac 26097
- Manistee 26101
- Marquette 26103
- Mason 26105
- Mecosta 26107
- Midland 26111
- Monroe 26115
- Montcalm 26117
- Muskegon 26121
- Oakland 26125
- Oceana 26127
- Ogemaw 26129
- Osceola 26133
- Ottawa 26139
- Presque Isle 26141
- Roscommon 26143
- Schoolcraft 26153
- St. Clair 26147
- St. Joseph 26149
- Van Buren 26159
- Washtenaw 26161
- Wayne 26163
Minnesota view state ↗ 33 N ▾
- Aitkin 27001
- Anoka 27003
- Becker 27005
- Benton 27009
- Big Stone 27011
- Carlton 27017
- Cass 27021
- Clearwater 27029
- Cook 27031
- Douglas 27041
- Freeborn 27047
- Goodhue 27049
- Hennepin 27053
- Houston 27055
- Itasca 27061
- Koochiching 27071
- Lake 27075
- Lake of the Woods 27077
- Le Sueur 27079
- Morrison 27097
- Pine 27115
- Polk 27119
- Ramsey 27123
- Rice 27131
- Roseau 27135
- Scott 27139
- St. Louis 27137
- Stearns 27145
- Wabasha 27157
- Waseca 27161
- Washington 27163
- Winona 27169
- Wright 27171
Mississippi view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 12 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 5 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 16 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 1 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 35 N ▾
- Cattaraugus 36009
- Cayuga 36011
- Chautauqua 36013
- Chemung 36015
- Chenango 36017
- Clinton 36019
- Columbia 36021
- Dutchess 36027
- Erie 36029
- Essex 36031
- Hamilton 36041
- Jefferson 36045
- Livingston 36051
- Madison 36053
- Monroe 36055
- Nassau 36059
- Oneida 36065
- Onondaga 36067
- Ontario 36069
- Orange 36071
- Oswego 36075
- Putnam 36079
- Richmond 36085
- Rockland 36087
- Saratoga 36091
- Schuyler 36097
- Seneca 36099
- St. Lawrence 36089
- Suffolk 36103
- Ulster 36111
- Warren 36113
- Washington 36115
- Wayne 36117
- Westchester 36119
- Yates 36123
North Carolina view state ↗ 9 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 40 N ▾
- Allegheny 42003
- Armstrong 42005
- Beaver 42007
- Bedford 42009
- Berks 42011
- Bradford 42015
- Bucks 42017
- Chester 42029
- Clarion 42031
- Clearfield 42033
- Crawford 42039
- Cumberland 42041
- Dauphin 42043
- Erie 42049
- Forest 42053
- Franklin 42055
- Huntingdon 42061
- Juniata 42067
- Lackawanna 42069
- Lancaster 42071
- Lehigh 42077
- Luzerne 42079
- Lycoming 42081
- Mifflin 42087
- Monroe 42089
- Montgomery 42091
- Northampton 42095
- Northumberland 42097
- Perry 42099
- Philadelphia 42101
- Pike 42103
- Snyder 42109
- Somerset 42111
- Sullivan 42113
- Susquehanna 42115
- Union 42119
- Venango 42121
- Warren 42123
- Westmoreland 42129
- Wyoming 42131
Rhode Island view state ↗ 2 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 1 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 11 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 11 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 33 N ▾
- Accomack 51001
- Albemarle 51003
- Arlington 51013
- Augusta 51015
- Bland 51021
- Buckingham 51029
- Campbell 51031
- Carroll 51035
- Charles City 51036
- Essex 51057
- Fairfax 51059
- Fluvanna 51065
- Frederick 51069
- Gloucester 51073
- Goochland 51075
- Grayson 51077
- Greensville 51081
- Hanover 51085
- King George 51099
- Loudoun 51107
- Louisa 51109
- Nelson 51125
- New Kent 51127
- Page 51139
- Prince George 51149
- Pulaski 51155
- Rockbridge 51163
- Scott 51169
- Stafford 51179
- Surry 51181
- Sussex 51183
- Virginia Beach (city) 51810
- Wythe 51197
West Virginia view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 54 N ▾
- Adams 55001
- Ashland 55003
- Barron 55005
- Bayfield 55007
- Brown 55009
- Buffalo 55011
- Burnett 55013
- Calumet 55015
- Chippewa 55017
- Columbia 55021
- Crawford 55023
- Dane 55025
- Dodge 55027
- Door 55029
- Douglas 55031
- Eau Claire 55035
- Florence 55037
- Fond du Lac 55039
- Forest 55041
- Grant 55043
- Green Lake 55047
- Iron 55051
- Jefferson 55055
- Kenosha 55059
- La Crosse 55063
- Langlade 55067
- Lincoln 55069
- Manitowoc 55071
- Marinette 55075
- Marquette 55077
- Menominee 55078
- Milwaukee 55079
- Oconto 55083
- Oneida 55085
- Pepin 55091
- Polk 55095
- Portage 55097
- Price 55099
- Racine 55101
- Rock 55105
- Rusk 55107
- Sauk 55111
- Sawyer 55113
- Shawano 55115
- St. Croix 55109
- Trempealeau 55121
- Vilas 55125
- Walworth 55127
- Washburn 55129
- Washington 55131
- Waukesha 55133
- Waupaca 55135
- Waushara 55137
- Winnebago 55139
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/VAAM3 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2865501 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z