Aggregated occurrence records of invasive European frog-bit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L.) across North America

European frog-bit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L.) is an invasive aquatic plant of growing concern in the Laurentian Great Lakes region. This species has the potential to continue to spread throughout North America and may threaten coastal and inland ecosystems and native species. Central to management of European frog-bit is an understanding of the historic and current distribution, which can inform efforts to predict future spread and establishment, determine habitat suitability and the factors that drive invasion, and identify high-priority areas for targeted monitoring and management. We created an aggregated dataset of European frog-bit occurrence records from 1932 to 2021 across the invasive range of North America. A total of 23,985 records were initially obtained from eight observation-based data providers and forty specimen-based data providers. Two datasets were mobilized for this project, including 2,874 records from a targeted university research effort and 150 unpublished specimens from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada National Collection of Vascular Plants. After data cleaning, standardization, and validation, this dataset contains 12,037 unique presence and absence records spanning thirteen U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.