This is a free-floating aquatic fern with a horizontal stem and small inflated leaves (2.5mm) that overlap alternately in two rows along the stems creating floating blankets. The leaves are light green initially but turn rusty-red in late summer. It has a mealy appearance due to hairs which make it non-wettable. Its favoured habitats are slow-moving rivers, still brackish water, ponds and lakes. It is not a native plant and belongs to the Azollaceae (Water Fern) family.
I first saw this plant in September 2015 in County Wexford on a field trip with Paul Green, BSBI Vice-county Recorder, when I photographed it.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
