SPECIALIST hornwort CONTROL SERVICES

OUR SPECIALIST CONTROL SERVICES WILL TREAT OR ERADICATE THIS SPECIES. TO FIND OUT IF YOU HAVE HORNWORT USE OUR FREE ID TOOL OR BOOK A SURVEY

treatment & removal

Hornwort can be very successfully treated with a suitable aquatic herbicide however manual pulling, raking or dredging can be used as well. Introducing a natural predator such as Grass carp will also over time deplete Hornwort colonies.

To find out the best way to control or remove Hornwort and the best time of year to have treatment or eradication carried out get in touch.

why is hornwort a problem?

Hornwort reproduces readily from pieces of stem, so any plant fragments not removed can reproduce. In autumn the plants sink to protect themselves from low temperatures, which makes treatment very difficult.

ABOUT HORNWORT

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ceratophyllum demersum
ORIGIN: US and Canada

Hornwort, also known as Coontail, Coon’s Tail (because it’s stems resemble a Racoon’s tail). Hornwort is a submerged rootless aquatic plant that is a natural floating oxygenator, however it excretes substances that inhibit the growth of phytoplankton and blue-green algae. Hornworts lack roots, although the plants may be anchored by leafless branches, they float beneath the surface of still or slow-moving water bodies.

• Free flowing, rootless plant.
• Each leaf can grow up to 3 metres in length.
• Extensive ‘forked’ leaves arranged in whorls around the stems.
• Flowers from July to September.
• Grows to a height of 1 metre.
• Feels rough to touch.

HABITAT

Thrives in lakes and slow moving waterways or streams.

IMPACT: LOW

Forms substantial floating masses that will block waterways, out-compete other aquatic plants and cause problems for hydroelectric schemes.

TOXICITY: ZERO

Hornwort presents no physical danger to either humans or animals.