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Pickerelweed

Pontederia cordata

Pickerelweed Locations in North America
Pickerelweed Locations in Southeast US
Pickerel Weed with flower

Pickerel Weed leaves
pickerelweed flower

bunch of pickerelweed
pickerelweed drawing
pickerelweed close up

Pickerel Weed leaves

USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 March 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
Illustration courtesy of University of Florida/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. Used with permission.

What is Pickerelweed?

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.

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Photo Credits: The majority of the aquatic plant line drawings are the copyright of the University of Florida Center for Aquatic Plants (Gainsville). They are used with permission.

Aquatic plant photographs were provided by David Bayne, Jim Davis, Kelly Duffie, Billy Higginbotham, Michael Masser, John Clayton, Chetta Owens, Diane Smith, Joe Snow, Don Steinbach, Bridget Robinson Lassiter and Peter Woods.

You may use these photos, so long as you give credit to AquaPlant.

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