Identification
Water soldier is an aquatic invasive plant that resembles the top of a pineapple, a spider plant, or an aloe plant with its long, tapering, sword-shaped leaves arranged in a rosette. Occasionally, American eelgrass (a native aquatic plant) can resemble newly established water soldier plants, but the serrated edges of the water soldier leaves are a key distinguishing feature. Water soldier prefers to grow in shallow areas with soft sediment bottoms but can occasionally establish in deeper water and rockier substrate if the conditions are right. Water soldier populations emerge in areas where water is slow moving or back-eddying, which allows free-floating plants to settle and establish a new colony. Water soldier populations in Ontario reproduce through offsets – a small version of the adult plant attached via an offshoot. Water soldier plants are submerged at the beginning of the growing season but gradually rise toward the surface throughout the summer as the plants become more buoyant. Water soldier leaves can be observed growing above the water’s surface at the peak of the growing season.
Impacts
Water soldier is a particularly damaging invasive plant that impacts native biodiversity, recreation, and water chemistry. Patches of water soldier can grow so densely that they completely replace all native vegetation, rendering low quality habitat for fish and aquatic animals. Part of its competitive advantage is its ability to alter the chemistry of the water around it to its favour. An area that has been taken over by water soldier is no longer viable for fishing or swimming, and boating through patches is strongly discouraged because the risk of dislodging and spreading plants is high.
Water Soldier in the Cataraqui Region
The only water soldier population known to be present within the Cataraqui region is within Red Horse Lake. Red Horse Lake is a deep, cold water shield lake near Lyndhurst in the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands. Water soldier was first identified in the lake in 2020. Removal efforts by the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and Cataraqui Conservation have been controlling water soldier populations in the lake with the hope of eliminating it completely. To see up-to-date information on the distribution of water soldier, visit: water soldier (Stratiotes aloides) - EDDMapS State Distribution - EDDMapS
If you think you have identified Water soldier, call the invasive species hotline (1-800-563-7711) or report it using EDDMapS as soon as possible.