Pontederia
Encyclopedia
Heterostyly
Heterostyly is a unique form of polymorphism and herkogamy in flowers. In a heterostylous species, two or three different morphological types of flowers, termed morphs, exist in the population. On each individual plant, all flowers share the same morph. The flower morphs differ in the lengths of...
aquatic plant
Aquatic plant
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or aquatic macrophytes. These plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water, or at the water's surface. Aquatic plants can only grow in water or in soil that is...
s, members of which are commonly known as pickerel weeds. Pontederia is endemic to the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, distributed from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, where it is found in shallow water or on mud. The genus was named by Linnaeus in honour of the Italian botanist Giulio Pontedera
Giulio Pontedera
Giulio Pontedera was an Italian botanist. He was professor of botany at Padua, and director of the botanical garden there. Although he rejected Carolus Linnaeus' system, Linnaeus was a correspondent of Pontedera's, and named the genus Pontederia after him.-References:...
.
Pontederia plants have large waxy leaves, succulent stems and a thick pad of fibrous roots. The roots give rise to rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s that allow rapid colonization by vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction is a form of asexual reproduction in plants. It is a process by which new individuals arise without production of seeds or spores...
. Species are perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
, and produce a large spike of flowers in the summer. There is a species of bee (Dufourea novae-angliae) that exclusively visits Pontederia cordata; waterfowl
Waterfowl
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....
also eat the fruit of the plant.
Pontederia cordata
Pontederia cordata
Pontederia cordata, commonly known as Pickerelweed, is a monocotyledonous aquatic plant native to North and South America. It can be found on pond and lake margins across an extremely large range from eastern Canada south to Argentina. The species is tristylous, meaning the styles of individual...
, and another member of the family, Eichhornia crassipes
Eichhornia crassipes
Eichhornia crassipes, commonly known as Common Water Hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to the Amazon basin, and is often considered a highly problematic invasive species outside its native range.-Ecology:...
, have become invasive in many tropical and temperate parts of the globe, but are, on the other hand, efficient biological filters of polluted water
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
in constructed wetland
Constructed wetland
A constructed wetland or wetpark is an artificial wetland, marsh or swamp created as a new or restored habitat for native and migratory wildlife, for anthropogenic discharge such as wastewater, stormwater runoff, or sewage treatment, for land reclamation after mining, refineries, or other...
s.
Selected species
- Pontederia cordataPontederia cordataPontederia cordata, commonly known as Pickerelweed, is a monocotyledonous aquatic plant native to North and South America. It can be found on pond and lake margins across an extremely large range from eastern Canada south to Argentina. The species is tristylous, meaning the styles of individual...
L. - Pontederia parviflora Alexander
- Pontederia rotundifolia L.f.
- Pontederia sagittata C.Presl
- Pontederia subovata (Seub.Moritz August SeubertMoritz August Seubert was a German botanist.- Life :Seubert was the son of a medical officer of health. He first attended the Lyzeum in Karlsruhe and already at that time had contact with the botanist, Alexander Braun, who interested him in this subject...
) Lowden - Pontederia triflora (Endl.Stephan Ladislaus EndlicherStephan Ladislaus Endlicher was an Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. He was born in Pressburg and died in Vienna....
ex Seub.) G.Agostini, D.Velázquez & J.Velásquez