Water Hyacinth

Description

Water hyacinth is a free-floating aquatic plant with thick, glossy ovate leaves and spongy, bulbous petioles that provide buoyancy. It has long, feathery, dark purple roots and produces a beautiful, erect spike of lavender-pink flowers with a yellow spot on the upper petal. A perennial in warm climates and an annual in cooler ones, it reproduces rapidly via runners and seeds, forming dense mats on water surfaces, which can block sunlight and clog waterways.

Physical Characteristics

Leaves: Broad, thick, glossy, and ovate, rising on spongy, bulbous stalks.

Roots: Long, feathery, and dark purple, hanging below the water surface.

Stems: Spongy and inflated with air, providing buoyancy for the plant to float.

Flowers: Clusters of attractive lavender or pink flowers with a yellow marking on the uppermost petal.

Growth habit: A rosette-forming plant that forms dense mats on the water surface by interconnecting with stolons.