Impacts
Impact on crops
- Can form dense, tangled masses of stems and intertwining rhizomes floating in water or creeping over mud
- Stems and rhizomes may be several metres long, and can root at several points
- Especially a problem in nurseries, from which it can easily be spread with ornamental plants sold in containers.
Impact on pasture
- The creeping rhizomes can create a thick mat of weed which completely smothers pasture.
 Impact on the natural environment
- A pioneer species, preferring to grow on bare soil or mud
- A common weed of waterways, wetlands, swamps, lakes, ponds and other wetter habitats in temperate and sub-tropical regions.