Parrot's-feather

Information on Parrot's-feather

Common Name: Parrot's-feather
Scientific Name: Myriophyllum aquaticum
Irish Name: None at present
Family Group: Haloragaceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Parrot's-feather is not easily confused with other wild plants on this web site.


Parrot’s Feather is a perennial aquatic plant which has underwater stems up to 2 metres long. It bears very attractive, feathery, blue-green leaves and tiny white (female only) flowers in whorls of 4-6 in the leaf axils on stems emerging from the water. The leaves have dense, stalkless glands. The plant flowers from May to August and belongs to the Haloragaceae or Water-milfoil family. This is not native to Ireland. 

I first saw Parrot’s-feather in Co Offaly in August 2016 and I photographed it at that time. 

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

First recorded in the wild in Ireland in 1988, Parrot’s-feather was originally quite widely sold as an oxygenator or ornamental plant and planted in artificial watercourse, ponds and aquaria. However, due to incorrect disposal of garden waste near other waterways, it has managed to establish itself in the wild and it has been classified on the list of Invasive Alien species in Ireland as having a ‘risk of High Impact’. It grows in static or slow-moving water and can spread by forming into large masses over canals and ditches. It is native to South America.

Parrot's-feather