Pontederia is a genus of
tristylousHeterostyly 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 plantAquatic plants — also called hydrophytic plants or hydrophytes — are plants that have adapted to living in or on aquatic environments. Because living on or under water surface requires numerous special adaptations, aquatic plants can only grow in water or permanently saturated soil...
s, commonly called the pickerel weeds.
Pontederia is endemic to the Americas, distributed from
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
, where it is found in shallow water or on mud. The genus was named by
LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature...
in honour of the Italian botanist
Giulio PontederaGiulio 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....
.
Pontederia plants have large waxy leaves, succulent stems and a thick pad of fibrous roots.
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Pontederia is a genus of
tristylousHeterostyly 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 plantAquatic plants — also called hydrophytic plants or hydrophytes — are plants that have adapted to living in or on aquatic environments. Because living on or under water surface requires numerous special adaptations, aquatic plants can only grow in water or permanently saturated soil...
s, commonly called the pickerel weeds.
Pontederia is endemic to the Americas, distributed from
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
, where it is found in shallow water or on mud. The genus was named by
LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature...
in honour of the Italian botanist
Giulio PontederaGiulio 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....
.
Pontederia plants have large waxy leaves, succulent stems and a thick pad of fibrous roots. The roots give rise to
rhizomeIn botany, 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 reproductionVegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction for plants, and is also called vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication, or vegetative cloning. It is a process by which new plant "individuals" arise or are obtained without production of seeds or spores...
. Species are
perennialA perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants...
, and produce a large spike of flowers in the summer. There is a species of bee (
Dufourea novae-angliae) that exclusively visits
Pontederia cordata;
waterfowlWaterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans.They are strong swimmers with medium to large bodies. They have historically been an important food source, and continue to be hunted as game, or raised as...
also eat the fruit of the plant.
Pontederia cordataPontederia cordata, commonly known as Pickerelweed, is a species of tristylous aquatic plants.-External links:**, Natural Resources Canada...
, and another member of the family,
Eichhornia crassipesEichhornia crassipes, commonly known as Common Water Hyacinth, is an invasive species of plant which is native to the Amazon basin. This plant is also used like a medicinal plant.-Invasive status in Africa:...
, have become invasive in many tropical and temperate parts of the globe, but are, on the other hand, efficient biological filters of polluted water.
http://www.fao.org/agris/search/display.do;jsessionid=32667E500FF371AC5F0EF65616BCF48E?f=./2001/v2712/JP1998006920.xml;JP1998006920 in
constructed wetlandA constructed wetland or wetpark is an artificial marsh or swamp, created for anthropogenic discharge such as wastewater, stormwater runoff or sewage treatment, and as habitat for wildlife, or for land reclamation after mining or other disturbance...
s.
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