# Waterwheel Plant (*Aldrovanda vesiculosa*)

The Waterwheel Plant is a special aquatic plant that catches tiny bugs in its whirling leaves! It grows in water and helps keep ponds healthy by providing food for small creatures.

- **Category:** [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/plant)
- **Rarity:** Rare
- **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low
- **Habitat:** Wetlands

![Waterwheel Plant](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/AldrovandaVesiculosaHabit.jpg&width=800)

Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AldrovandaVesiculosaHabit.jpg)

## Appearance

The Waterwheel Plant is a rootless, free-floating aquatic plant with a central stem surrounded by whorls of specialized leaves. These leaves form tiny, clam-like traps, typically green to reddish-brown, that resemble miniature wheels.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Plantae
- **Phylum:** Tracheophyta
- **Class:** Magnoliopsida
- **Order:** Caryophyllales
- **Family:** Droseraceae
- **Genus:** Aldrovanda

## Interesting facts

- It's one of the fastest moving plants on Earth, snapping shut in less than 0.02 seconds!
- Once found worldwide, it's now incredibly rare in the wild due to disappearing habitats.
- This amazing plant has no roots; it floats freely and hunts for its food in the water.
- Waterwheel plants can form special 'winter buds' called turions to survive cold temperatures.

## Special abilities

- **Snap Traps:** Waterwheel Plant can snap its submerged traps shut in milliseconds to catch small aquatic prey.
- **Rootless Wonder:** Waterwheel Plant has no roots, instead absorbing all necessary nutrients directly from the surrounding water.
- **Break & Grow:** Waterwheel Plant can break into fragments, with each piece capable of growing into a new independent plant.

## Measurements & details

- **Height:** 1-20 cm
- **Flower Size:** 0.1-0.3 cm
- **Bloom Season:** Summer
- **Edible:** No
- **Toxicity:** None
- **Lifecycle:** Perennial
- **Pollination Method:** Self

## Ecological connections

- **Eaten by:** water flea (*Daphnia pulex*) — Tiny crustaceans caught by traps.
- **Eaten by:** common house mosquito (*Culex pipiens*) — Mosquito larvae provide nutrients.
- **Eaten by:** copepod (*Cyclops strenuus*) — Small copepods are a common meal.

## Traits

- [Flowering](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/flowering): Flowering plants are any plants that produce flowers as part of their reproductive cycle.
- [Insectivorous](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/insectivorous): This trait identifies organisms whose diet primarily consists of insects and other small invertebrates.
- [Rapid Growing](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/rapid-growing): Rapid growing plants exhibit accelerated growth rates, quickly increasing in size and biomass within a short period.
- [Carnivorous Plant](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/carnivorous-plant): Carnivorous plants are predatory flowering plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans.
- [Wetland](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/wetland): This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.
- [Keystone Species](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/keystone-species): Describes a species whose presence and role have a disproportionately large effect on its environment.
- [Aquatic](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/aquatic): Aquatic habitats encompass environments where organisms live predominantly in water, including oceans, rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
- [Endangered](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/endangered): Endangered status indicates a species is at a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.

## Collections

- [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/plants)

## Safety

**Danger:** 1/5 · Very low

Always be careful around water and ask an adult before exploring ponds.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Waterwheel Plant?

Start with the whole plant, then compare leaf arrangement, leaf edges, stems and any flowers or fruit. Opposite leaves grow in pairs; alternate leaves come one at a time along the stem. These details tell you far more together than a single green leaf does. Plant Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How tall is Waterwheel Plant?

1-20 cm

### How big are the flowers on Waterwheel Plant?

0.1-0.3 cm

### When does Waterwheel Plant bloom?

Summer

### Is Waterwheel Plant edible?

No

### Is Waterwheel Plant toxic?

None

### What is Waterwheel Plant's lifecycle?

Perennial

### How is Waterwheel Plant pollinated?

Self

## Where to spot

- [Botanischer Garten und Arboretum (Tübingen)](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/botanical-garden-arboretum-tubingen) — Baden-Württemberg, DE · Park

## More Plants

- [white snakeroot](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-snakeroot) (*Ageratina altissima*)
- [tree-of-heaven](https://www.snappit.app/explore/tree-of-heaven) (*Ailanthus altissima*)
- [western sword fern](https://www.snappit.app/explore/western-sword-fern) (*Polystichum munitum*)
- [common milkweed](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-milkweed) (*Asclepias syriaca*)

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Source: [Waterwheel Plant: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/waterwheel-plant)