Scientific name:  Pontederia cordata

 

Physical Characteristics

Leaves:

  • Straight
  • Range from triangular/egg-shaped to triangular/sword-shaped
  • Deeply heart-shaped or cut off
  • Rarely thin at base
  • Up to 0.75 inches long

Flowers:

  • Spike up to 6 inches long
  • Straight spike
  • Short life cycle
  • Petals violet-blue in color
  • Anther elliptical-shaped, blue in color

Outer Part of Flower:

  • Funnel-shaped
  • 2-lipped

Fruit:

  • One seeded
  • Thin
  • Bladder-like

Stem:

  • Up to 3 feet tall
  • Thick, creeping rhizomes

Roots:

  • Rooted in mud

 

Where Does it Grow?

Pickerelweed can be found in marshes, sluggish streams, and ditches in shallow water.

 

Pros and Cons of Pickerel-weed

Ducks will consume the seeds of pickerelweed; while muskrats and nutria will consume the rhizomes and base. Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called “detritus”) for many aquatic invertebrates.

 

USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 March 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.

 

Information and photos courtesy of AquaPlant A Diagnostics Tool for Pond Plants and Algae.