The fronds are 0.5–4 cm long and broad, with a bristly surface caused by the hair-like strands that join at the end to form eggbeater shapes.

[3] This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.

[5] Salvinia molesta prefers to grow in slow-moving waters such as those found in lakes, ponds, billabongs (oxbows), streams, ditches, marshes, and rivers.

[5] Research done in the Philippines suggested the effectiveness of S. molesta for the treatment of blackwater effluent for an eco-friendly sewage system that uses a constructed wetland to clean the water.

The result of the study showed that it can remove 30.77% of total suspended solids, 74.70% dissolved oxygen and 48.95% fecal coliform from the water.

The naturalized regions of Texas have 14 drainage basins that contain infested water bodies; these are used as impoundments on tributaries that flow near federally protected wetlands.

[9] In October 2020 Texas Parks and Wildlife detected S. molesta on Lone Star Lake while surveying fish populations.

[8] It reproduces by asexual reproduction only, but it is capable of growing extremely quickly, starting from small fragments and doubling in dry weight every 2.2–2.5 days.

It also prevents the natural exchange of gases between the air and the body of water the plant has invaded, causing the waterway to stagnate.

The growth habit of Salvinia is problematic to human activities including flood mitigation, conservation of endangered species and threatened environments, boating, and irrigation.

[10] Researchers at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas discovered that extracts of giant salvinia have shown promising signs of inhibiting growth of human cancer cells without destroying nearby healthy ones.

[11] The salvinia effect describes the stabilization of an air layer upon a submerged hydrophobic (water repellent) surface by hydrophilic (water-loving) pins.

This physicochemical phenomenon was discovered on the floating fern Salvinia molesta by the botanist Wilhelm Barthlott (Universität Bonn) while working on the lotus effect and was described in cooperation with the physicist Thomas Schimmel (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie), fluid mechanist Alfred Leder (Universität Rostock) and their colleagues in 2010.

This weevil was used with success in other parts of the world (13 tropical countries) such as the Sepik River in Papua, Sri Lanka, Lake Ossa in Cameroon as part of an AMMCO project[12] to restore African manatee; Wappa Dam in Queensland, and lagoons (e.g. Kakadu National Park) in the Northern Territory, Australia.

However, this grasshopper has been deliberately released for control of Salvinia molesta in parts of Africa, Sri Lanka and India, and accidentally in Puerto Rico.

The chemical fluridon has been successfully used, but it requires prolonged contact and is not effective if it is suddenly diluted by rainwater or any other influx of water.

[15] In Caddo Lake, efforts to eradicate S. molesta have included the farming and introduction of salvinia weevils which eat the plant.