Collection only, British native available but price varies according to size ready at the time from £1- £2.75
Water Soldier is quite rare in the wild and protected by law. However it is easy to grow in garden ponds etc but needs shallow water. This is because although a floating plant,like Frogbit, it needs to be able to make contact with the mud below with its root tips.
The plant looks something like a pineapple top or a spider plant suspended just below the water surface. They have small white flowers in Summer. In the Autumn they sink to the bottom and venture upward when the water warms again in May.
I would say that the maximum depth for this plant to do well would be 2.5 feet or 75cm. The plants can each span a foot, 30 cm or more and they reproduce by offsets. Where happy Water Soldier dominate the other flora and can cover shallow water bodies with an interlocked grid of plants which provides great cover for smaller wildlife. Giving protection from larger fish and birds. The foliage is quite tough yet brittle with serated leaves easily able to scratch and graze during handling especially on removal.
The plants are easy to remove by hand or with a rake and if well established I would recommend removing one third of them annually. To prevent them choking each other out of the water. They make good compost!