Week12 Draft4

Cabomba caroliniana, or better known as fanwort, is a perennial aquatic plant. Stems of the plant reach up to 10 meters and are branched. The leaves grow in pairs outward from the stem with fine texture. The stems themselves are rhizomes and leaves that reach the surface are diamond-shaped. Fanwort is native to subtropic-temperate regions of eastern north and south America. It was naturalized in the United States via aquarium trade. Plant fragments easly settle and grow through movements from different bodies of water carried by boits, fishing gear, wind, and currents. The plant is well adapt to grow in a variety of substrates and depths up to 30ft or in shallow waters less than ten feet. A variety of issues concerning ecological relationships and even impacts on humans arise as the density of the plants prevent use of different bodies of water. Furthermore, fanwort displaces native macrophytes and creates shortages of food for native fish.