IS IT ILLEGAL FOR A NURSERY IN FLORIDA TO SELL WATER HYACINTH OR WATER LETTUCE TO THE PUBLIC?
Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) are both Prohibited Aquatic Plants under Florida Law (Chapter 62C-52 Florida Administrative Code). It is NOT legal for a business to sell water hyacinth or water lettuce in Florida. In fact it is against the law for anyone in the State of Florida to possess either of those plants with out a permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. That means that anyone collecting either of these plants from the wild, or anyone with even a couple of plants in a water garden on their property, are in violation of State law. There is an exception in regards to nurseries however. An approved nursery can grow, under quarantine, water lettuce for sale out-of-state ONLY and water hyacinth for sale out-of-the-country ONLY.
