Pickerel-weed, Pontederia cordata

Plant Family: Water-Hyacinth Family, Pontedariaceae

Wetland Indicator Status: OBL

Pickerel-weed (Pontederia cordata) has three-inch-long insect-pollinated purple to blue flower spikes. The large flower spikes, and arrowhead glossy leaves, make it one of the most attractive native emergent plants from a distance or up close.

Pickerel-weed grows in small to large clumps in shallow marshes and shallow portions of lakes, streams, and rivers.  The plants can spread rapidly through underground rhizomes.  Many clumps are a single individual plant that spreads in this manner.

Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) Flowers
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) is a pretty emergent plant of lakes and wetlands with purple flowers and heart-shaped leaves.
Pickerel-Weed Clone
A clone of Pickerel-weed (Pontederia cordata) in Lake Butte des Morts Wisconsin