Pontederia lanceolata Nutt.

Scientific Name: Pontederia lanceolata Nutt.

Pontederia lanceolata Nutt.

General Information
Usda Symbol	POLA17
Group	Monocot
Life Cycle	Perennial
Growth Habits	Forb/herb
Native Locations	POLA17

Plant Guide

Use a soil moisture meter to monitor the soil moisture where Pontederia lanceolata Nutt. is planted.

Fact Sheet

Uses

Pickerelweed forms large colonies along shallow shorelines. The emergent mass of stems and leaves provide wave-buffering protection. Although slow to spread, the root base of this plant thoroughly covers the sediments with a tough vegetative mat. The seed of pickerelweed is eaten by waterfowl. Geese and muskrats will consume the vegetation, while only fish, and to a lesser extent birds and small mammals, utilize flooded foliage for cover. This species is also used extensively in water gardening, due to its showy violet to blue flowers.

Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s current status (e.g. threatened or endangered species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

Description

Pontederia cordata is a stout perennial herbaceous emergent that can reach four feet tall. The light green stems and leaves emerge annually from a thick pad of fibrous roots. These roots give rise to short creeping rhizomes, allowing the plant to spread. The waxy leaves develop at the ends of stems, and are highly variable in shape and size. Their shape will range from oval to lance-like, with size varying 2 to 10 inches long and 1/2 to 6 inches wide. Leaf veins are orientated in a parallel arrangement starting at the base. The compound, violet to blue flowers emerge from an erect spike. The spike will grow to 6 inches in length. The showy flowers appear anywhere from May to October over much of its range. The corky fruit produced by these flowers is oblong and one seeded.

Adaptation and Distribution

Distribution , Use soil moisture sensors to measure the soil moisture of Pontederia lanceolata Nutt..

Distribution

The natural distribution of pickerelweed is from Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas. This plant is typically found growing in the unconsolidated sediments of marshes, streams, shallow lakes, and ponds. It tolerates low fertility and partial sunlight and temporary inundation to 20 inches, but flourishes in fully exposed fertile soils (pH: 6.0 to 8.0), and permanently inundated up to 12 inches deep in freshwater (<3 parts per thousand salinity .). Robert H. Mohlenbrock USDA, NRCS 1995 Northeast Wetland Flora @ USDA NRCS PLANTS For a current distribution map, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Website.

Establishment

In the wild, pickerelweed is predominantly established from seed; there are approximately 5,000 cleaned seeds per pound. The seeds are dispersed by wind, water, and animals to favorable moist unconsolidated sites, where they establish. Similar processes can be mimicked by humans on-site, in nursery beds or greenhouses. Cool moist stratification of the seed is necessary to trigger adequate germination of spring seedings. Utilizing a seeding rate of 20-30 live seeds per square foot will result in the best establishment and development of a stand. Although vegetative dispersal is less frequent in nature, scale-like root corms are located near the soil surface or sometimes exposed and easily separate from the parent plant. When harvested these corms can be planted as bare-foot stock or containerized transplants. Bare-rooted material is typically small and manageable enough to plant using standard hand tools (spade, dibble, planting bar, etc.) Read about Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation Service.

Plant Traits

Growth Requirements

Morphology/Physiology

Reproduction

Suitability/Use

Pontederia lanceolata Nutt.

Pontederia lanceolata Nutt.

Pontederia lanceolata Nutt.

Pontederia lanceolata Nutt.

Pontederia lanceolata Nutt.

Pontederia lanceolata Nutt.