aquatic plant
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...
s, members of which are commonly known as pickerel weeds. ''Pontederia'' is endemic to the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
, distributed from
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
to
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, where it is found in shallow water or on mud. The genus was named by Linnaeus in honour of the Italian botanist Giulio Pontedera.
''Pontederia'' plants have large waxy leaves, succulent stems and a thick pad of fibrous roots. The roots give rise to
rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
s that allow rapid colonization by
vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or spec ...
. Species are
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
, and produce a large spike of flowers in the summer. There is a species of bee (''
Dufourea novaeangliae
''Dufourea'' is a genus of sweat bees in the family Halictidae
Halictidae is the second-largest family of bees (clade Anthophila) with nearly 4,500 species. Halictid species are an extremely diverse group that can vary greatly in appearance. ...
'') that exclusively visits ''Pontederia cordata'';
waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...
also eat the fruit of the plant.
''
Pontederia cordata
''Pontederia cordata'', common name pickerelweed (USA) or pickerel weed ( UK), is a monocotyledonous aquatic plant native to the American continents. It grows in a variety of wetlands, including pond and lake margins across an extremely large ...
'' and ''
Pontederia crassipes
''Pontederia crassipes'' (formerly ''Eichhornia crassipes''), commonly known as common water hyacinth is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive outside its native range.Eichhornia crassipes''), have become invasive in many tropical and temperate parts of the globe, but are, on the other hand, efficient
biological filter
A trickling filter is a type of wastewater treatment system. It consists of a fixed bed of rocks, coke, gravel, slag, polyurethane foam, sphagnum peat moss, ceramic, or plastic media over which sewage or other wastewater flows downward and ca ...
s of
polluted water
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
Pontederia cordata
''Pontederia cordata'', common name pickerelweed (USA) or pickerel weed ( UK), is a monocotyledonous aquatic plant native to the American continents. It grows in a variety of wetlands, including pond and lake margins across an extremely large ...
'' L.
* ''
Pontederia crassipes
''Pontederia crassipes'' (formerly ''Eichhornia crassipes''), commonly known as common water hyacinth is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive outside its native range.Pontederia cyanea'' (F.Muell.) M.Pell. & C.N.Horn
* '' Pontederia diversifolia'' (Vahl) M.Pell. & C.N.Horn
* '' Pontederia elata'' (Ridl.) M.Pell. & C.N.Horn
* '' Pontederia hastata'' L.
* '' Pontederia heterosperma'' (Alexander) M.Pell. & C.N.Horn
* '' Pontederia korsakowii'' (Regel & Maack) M.Pell. & C.N.Horn
* '' Pontederia meyeri'' (A.G.Schulz) M.Pell. & C.N.Horn
* '' Pontederia natans'' P.Beauv.
* ''
Pontederia ovalis
''Pontederia'' is a genus of tristylous aquatic plants, members of which are commonly known as pickerel weeds. ''Pontederia'' is endemic to the Americas, distributed from Canada to Argentina, where it is found in shallow water or on mud. The genu ...
Pontederia sagittata
''Pontederia sagittata'' is a species of aquatic plant belonging to the family Pontederiaceae.
Description
It is a perennial plant with erect, rhizomatous tough stems. Basal leaves, emerging; pods 10–27 cm, the apex emarginate; petioles ...
Pontederia triflora
''Pontederia'' is a genus of tristylous aquatic plants, members of which are commonly known as pickerel weeds. ''Pontederia'' is endemic to the Americas, distributed from Canada to Argentina, where it is found in shallow water or on mud. The genu ...
Pontederia vaginalis
''Monochoria vaginalis'' is a species of flowering plant in the water hyacinth family known by several common names, including heartshape false pickerelweed and oval-leafed pondweed.
It is native to much of Asia and across many of the Pacific I ...
'' Burm.f.
* ''
Pontederia valida
''Pontederia'' is a genus of tristylous aquatic plants, members of which are commonly known as pickerel weeds. ''Pontederia'' is endemic to the Americas, distributed from Canada to Argentina, where it is found in shallow water or on mud. The genu ...