India, Oct. 19 -- Some plants look too pretty to cause trouble. Water hyacinth is a good example. The floating plant was introduced to Florida in the 1880s, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. By the early 1960s, it spanned more than 120,000 acres of public lakes and navigable rivers. That's a lot of water going to one plant. Here's how a garden favorite became a long-standing problem.

Water hyacinth is native to South America. Its flowers are lavender-blue to purple, with a yellow spot on the upper petal. AUniversity of Florida extension publication by Lyn Gettys explains how it reached the United States. The plants were handed out as souvenirs to visitors at a cotton expo in New Orleans in 1884. Many of ...