Oh my!! Good information to have! Sure is true that a picture is worth a thousand words :) A quick google shows that depending on the variety they can be hardy up to zone 5 and are considered a nuisance in the warmer climates. I hope yours isn't. Bet the fish were glad you got home to save them from the beast!

Mary - I can send you some pennywort. It overwinters in the ground around my pond but not IN the pond. It dies back to only roots because it is a perennial. I never leave any of it in my pond at all. I think it might be giant pennywort as some of the individual leaves get to be the size of a half dollar or bigger, and it gets tiny white blooms. I always think it is quite cute - like baby lotus leaves. It can grow up to 12" tall - very lush. I amended the soil around my pond with composted manure and top soil and it is damp most of the time. I sent some out on a trade from the water plant trade forum - just did one of those any weight $8 priority mail boxes and was able to fill three gallon size Ziplock bags with lots of roots and plant tops still with soil attached. If you want me to send you some please email me via the GW link which I updated today to allow emails from there. Thanks. -Susan

Well, spent till dark fighting the good fight. Digging away, hand spade by hand spade. Each shovel was looked thru on a big white plastic bag. Where there is one there are always two.. probably more. All dirt was moved into a bucket. I'm going to keep doing this till I have done this bed. I'm going to remove what plants I can and rinse the roots. I know I can't get them from in the stand of tall iris, and I don't want to damage my Maple tree, as I grew it from a seed and it is almost my height now. I am going to try and screen the soil best I can and re-fill w/ this and garden soil. It's at least worth a shot. Mad_Gallica, I totally agree that knowing what it is doesn't help! I can't believe that it has been up your way for that long. I have never, ever seen it before, yet I have been told on many occasions I am extremely observant of things. I have begun to see it everywhere now. My method last year: long, thick screwdrivers, used to get between perennial roots and deep under the stands of bulbs. I'd pry a bit and then get my gloved hand underneath somehow and discard the whole lot filled with bulbs. Needless to say I have lots of low spots now. Oh, and I lost several screwdrivers that way too. LOL! Borrowed my moms metal detector twice to try and find 'em. Unsuccessfully, BTW. I just told Dear Boyfriend that they would turn up come fall or winter! PFT! I'll have to look into adding an asparagus fork to the arsenal. Camp, I'd stay clear of these for sure. So many better choices out there. Catspa, how did you find the reference to the 1935 thing? Was it somehow on that site? I know, it's sad to see escapees like that. I don't envy your plight either. I've been hesitant to dispose of these things myself. I imagine a landfill topped with fields of Pinelllia! But honestly, I see no other way than to bag them up in recycled grocery bags (always check for holes in the bag first!!) and send them to the city dump. I keep reading they regenerate from rhizomes, too, and root systems, but I think it is the bulbs only. I try and not leave any roots behind, but they are short and don't break too easily. Either way, I'm afraid of squashing them and trying to compost. No Way!! They are so prolific I can only imagine every squashed bulb producing multiple, mutant squash-up shaped new bulbs. SHUDDER! I only gave away one tub of Black eyed susans last year to the across the street neighbor, for fear of spreading them. I took hers from a "safe" spot and tried to go thru the roots for signs of it. Before I gave them to her I called her over to point out the nasty stuff and give her the run down to be extra careful if she sees anything like it pop up near the BES's. My due diligence, I guess. Best I could do.

my lawn is being taken over by pennywort (rau ma). Any suggestions on how to eliminate the pennywort without destroying all the lawn?