Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Scientific Panel on Plant Heath was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on two pest risk analyses made by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) on invasive alien plants (American skunk cabbage and floating pennywort). The Panel was in particular asked a) whether these organisms can  be  considered  as  harmful  for  the  endangered  area  of  the  European  Community  and  thus  potentially  eligible  for  addition  to  the  list  of  harmful  organisms  in  the  plant  health  Directive  2000/29/EC,  and  b)  whether  the  identified  management  options  are  appropriate  through  an  evaluation of their efficacy, feasibility and impact. 

This document presents the opinion of the Panel on Plant Health on the pest risk analysis made by EPPO on Hydrocotyle ranunculoides L. f

H. ranunculoides is a stoloniferous, perennial, aquatic plant, known as floating pennywort. It is native  to  North  America,  where  it  is  considered endangered  in  some  areas,  but  has  been  introduced  and  subsequently  naturalised  in  water  bodies  within  a  number  of  European  countries,  including  Belgium,  Denmark,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Spain,  and  United  Kingdom  (UK).  It is  reported  as  invasive  in  Belgium,  the  Netherlands  and the  UK,  forming  dense  mats  of  vegetation  in  still  and  slow-flowing  water  courses.  An important  pathway  of  entry  and  spread   is  the  intentional  introduction  of  H.  ranunculoides through the trade in aquatic plants.