water lettuce

noun

1. a floating aquatic plant, Pistia stratiotes, of the arum family, having a rosette of thick, spongy leaves.

Word History and Origins

Origin of water lettuce¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

It shot out of the shallows and disappeared under a raft of water lettuce.

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Water hyacinth, water lettuce, water lily and cattails went in and around the goldfish pond.

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They lay their eggs on water lettuce — invasive weeds that float in the canals, drainage ditches and other waterways crisscrossing Florida neighborhoods.

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Another Lab was able to detect invasive water lettuce, which is prohibited to import to Florida, contained within an unmarked box at a South Florida postal facility.

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Giant pine trees draped with moonseed vines towered over an Everglades-wet forest floor blanketed with gingers, ferns, duckweed, water lettuce and floating, flowering plants.

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