Araceae
Water lettuce
Pistia stratiotes
- Family
- Araceae
- Genus
- Pistia
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Common names
By language (49)
- Afrikaans
- Waterslaai
- Arabic
- زقيم, حَى عالم الماء
- arz
- زقيم
- Assamese
- বৰপুণি
- Bambara
- Kɔbaga
- ban
- Kapu-kapu
- Bangla
- টোপাপানা, টাকাপানা
- Belarusian
- Вадзяная салата
- bew
- Kapu-kapu
- Bulgarian
- Мидено цвете
- Chinese
- 大萍, 大薸, 卡过, 大浮萍, 大漂, 大萍叶, 大蓮, 大蕊萍
- Czech
- Babelka řezanovitá
- Dutch
- Watersla, Mosselplant, Mosselplantje
- English
- Water lettuce, Nile cabbage, Shellflower
- Esperanto
- Pistio
- Estonian
- Vesisalat
- Filipino
- Kiyapo, Cuyapo, Kiapo, Quiapo
- Finnish
- Pistia, Vesisalaatti
- French
- Laitue d'Eau, Pistie, Salade du Nil
- German
- Wassersalat, Grüne Wasserrose, Muschelblume
- gor
- Tombili
- Hausa
- Kainuwa
- Hebrew
- פיסטיה, חסת המים, פיסטיה צפה
- Hungarian
- Úszó kagylótutaj
- Indonesian
- Apu-apu, Kayuapu
- Italian
- Pistia
- Japanese
- ボタンウキクサ, ウォーターレタス, ボタンウキクサ属
- Kannada
- ಕುಂಬಿಕ್
- Korean
- 물상추
- Lithuanian
- Salotinė pistija, Pistija, Vandens salota
- Malagasy
- Tsikafonkafona
- Malay
- Kiambang, Kapu-kapu, Kembiang
- Malayalam
- പിസ്ടിയ
- Nepali
- जलकुम्भी
- Norwegian Bokmål
- Vannsalat, Muslingblom, Pistia
- Norwegian Nynorsk
- Muslingblom
- Odia
- ବୋରଝାଞ୍ଜି
- Persian
- پستیا
- Polish
- Piscja osokowata, Sałata nilowa, Sałata wodna, Topian osokowaty
- Portuguese
- Pistia, Erva de santa luzia, Erva-de-santa-luzia, Oju Orò, Ojuoro, Ojuorô
- Russian
- Пистия, Пистия слоистая
- Spanish
- Kodda-Pail, Lechuguilla de Agua, Repollo de Agua
- Swedish
- Musselblomma, Vattensallad
- Tamil
- பிஸ்டியா
- Telugu
- పిస్టియా
- Thai
- จอก
- Turkish
- Su marulu, Sumarulu
- Ukrainian
- Водяний салат, Капуста водяна
- Vietnamese
- Bèo cái
Synonyms
- Apiospermum obcordatum (Schleid.) Klotzsch
- Limnonesis commutata (Schleid.) Klotzsch
- Limnonesis friedrichsthaliana Klotzsch
- Pistia aegyptiaca Schleid.
- Pistia aethiopica Fenzl ex Klotzsch
- Pistia africana C.Presl
- Pistia amazonica C.Presl
- Pistia brasiliensis Klotzsch
- Pistia commutata Schleid.
- Pistia crispata Blume
- Pistia cumingii Klotzsch
- Pistia gardneri Klotzsch
- Pistia horkeliana Miq.
- Pistia leprieurii Blume
- Pistia linguiformis Blume
- Pistia minor Blume
- Pistia natalensis Klotzsch
- Pistia obcordata Schleid.
- Pistia occidentalis Blume
- Pistia schleideniana Klotzsch
- Pistia spathulata Michx.
- Pistia stratiotes var. cuneata Engl.
- Pistia stratiotes var. linguiformis Engl.
- Pistia stratiotes var. obcordata (Schleid.) Engl.
- Pistia stratiotes var. spathulata (Michx.) Engl.
- Pistia texensis Klotzsch
- Pistia turpini Blume
- Pistia turpinii K.Koch
- Pistia weigeltiana C.Presl
- Zala asiatica Lour.
Flowers
- In flower
- all year (from 72 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- In the US and Canada
- Hawaii: introduced, Lower 48 states: native, Puerto Rico: native, U.S. Virgin Islands: native
Photos
FlowerPhoto: mfeaver, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Aaron Peterson, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Sandipan Das, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: vinicius_s_domingues, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Aris riyanto, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Jay Horn, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Hungda, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Aris riyanto, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Ксения Кузьмичева, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: E Santos Ortega, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Syariful Msth, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.