Ecological Risk Screening Summary - Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) - Uncertain Risk

Species that are considered uncertain risk need a more in-depth assessment beyond the Risk Summary to better define the species’ risk to U.S. environments.

Nasturtium officinale, commonly known as watercress, is an emergent freshwater plant native to much of Europe and Asia. Today, N. officinale can also be found in east and southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas and Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and some Pacific islands. In many cases, it was deliberately introduced as a leafy vegetable, but is now a fast-growing weed in some of these areas. Impacts include invasion of waterways, where it can crowd existing native vegetation, resulting in alterations to the structure structure
Something temporarily or permanently constructed, built, or placed; and constructed of natural or manufactured parts including, but not limited to, a building, shed, cabin, porch, bridge, walkway, stair steps, sign, landing, platform, dock, rack, fence, telecommunication device, antennae, fish cleaning table, satellite dish/mount, or well head.

Learn more about structure
and composition of native vegetation as well as the functionality of waterways. However, there is little evidence of such impacts occurring since the mid-twentieth century. Climate match for N. officinale within the contiguous United States is high. Despite the high climate match, overall risk of N. officinale within the contiguous United States is uncertain because of the lack of recent information on impacts.

Publication date
Type of document
Uncertain Risk
Program
A man is fishing in a boat with three young girls. The kids are excitedly pulling a fish out of the water.
The Fish and Aquatic Conservation programs work together to deliver resilient habitats, healthy fish, connected people, and strong partnerships. From habitat restoration to aquatic invasive species prevention, captive breeding to population assessment and monitoring, our programs are driven by the...
Silver Carp Jumping
Aquatic invasive species cause tremendous harm to our environment, our economy, and our health. They can drive out and eat native plants and wildlife, spread diseases, and damage infrastructure. We work to protect our waterways and the communities that depend on them from the threat of invasive...
Subject tags
Invasive species