- Taxon
- Weed
Classification
Class
Family
Genus
Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Pontederia crassipes Mart. (1823)
Synonymy:
- ≡ Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms (1883)
Description
Free-floating aquatic with many long purple feathery roots which may anchor the plant in mud around edges of ponds, streams, etc.; stolons many, thick, fleshy, radiating in all directions, producing leafy tufts which readily separate and form new plants. Leaves bright green, smooth, leathery; laminae to 8 cm wide, ovate to orbicular, many-nerved; petiole usually inflated below, spongy and bladder-like. Flowers to 7 cm diam., bluish-purple, 8–10, spirally arranged in a terminal spike; scape to ± 20 cm high with leaf-like bract; tube green; lobes blue-purple, uppermost widest with a deeper blotch containing a bright yellow spot. Capsule membranous, 3-celled, many-seeded, enclosed in withered perianth. Seeds small, ovoid, ribbed.
[From: Healy and Edgar (1980) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 3. as Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms]
Biostatus
Exotic
Phenology
Flowering: Feb.–Mar.
Bibliography
Biosecurity New Zealand 2012: Regional Pest Management Strategies Database. http://www.biosecurityperformance.maf.govt.nz/ [as Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms]
Biosecurity New Zealand 4 Aug 2011: Unwanted Organisms Register. http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/pests/registers/uor [as Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms]
Biosecurity New Zealand 2008: National Plant Pest Accord. MAF Biosecurity New Zealand, Wellington. [as Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms]
Ministry for Primary Industries 23 Feb 2017: Unwanted Organisms Register. Version 02.01.02. https://www1.maf.govt.nz/uor [as Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms]
Pellegrini, M.O.O.; Horn, C.N.; Almeida, R.F. 2018: Total evidence phylogeny of Pontederiaceae (Commelinales) sheds light on the necessity of its recircumscription and synopsis of Pontederia L. PhytoKeys 108: 25–83. (Published online: 29 August 2018 doi:10.3897/phytokeys.108.27652)
