Abstract: Aquatic herbicides are one of the most effective and widespread ways to manage nuisance vegetation in the US After the active ingredient is selected, often there are numerous proprietary and generic branded products to select from. To date, limited efforts have been made to compare the efficacy of brand name and generic herbicides head to head; therefore, at tot al of 20 mesocosm trials were conducted to evaluate various 2,4 -D, glyphosate, imazapyr, and triclopyr products against alligatorweed (Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb.), southern cattail (hereafter referred to as cattail, Typha domingensis Pers.), and creeping water primrose (hereafter referred as primrose, Ludwigia peploides (Kunth) P.H. Raven). All active ingredients were applied to foliage at broadcast rates commonly used in applications to public waters. Proprietary and generic 2,4 -D, glyphosate, imazapyr, and triclopyr were efficacious and provided 39 to 99% control of alligatorweed, cattail and primrose in 19 of the 20 trials. There were no significant differences i n product performance except glyphosate vs. alligatorweed (trial 1, Rodeo vs. Roundup Custom) and glyphosate vs. cattail (trial 1, Rodeo vs. Glyphosate 5.4). These results demonstrate under small -scale conditions, the majority of the generic and proprietary herbicides provided similar control of emergent vegetation, regardless of active ingredient.