Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
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Eichhornia crassipes


Higher Taxonomy
Family: PontederiaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: PICKEREL-WEED FAMILY
Habit: Annual, perennial herb, submersed, emergent, floating, or on wet ground. Leaf: simple, alternate or whorled, +- in basal rosette or not; blade linear (especially underwater) to round, sometimes sagittate or cordate, base generally sheathing, veins parallel; petiole inflated or not. Inflorescence: raceme, spike, panicle, or 1-flowered, terminal but often appearing +- axillary, subtended by sheathing bract. Flower: bisexual, radial or +- bilateral; perianth lobes 6 (in 2 series) [3,4], petal-like; stamens 3, 6 (in 2 series) [1,4], from various levels on perianth tube, equal or not, sometimes 3 sterile, modified; ovary superior, 1 or 3-chambered. Fruit: many-seeded, loculicidal capsule [1-seeded utricle]. Seed: < 1 cm, longitudinally ribbed [or not].
Genera In Family: +- 6 genera, 30 species: most pantropical, some temperate. Note: Some cultivated as orns, some weeds, especially in rice fields. Pontederia cordata L. establishes from garden waste.
eFlora Treatment Author: Charles N. Horn & Elizabeth McClintock
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Genus: EichhorniaView Description 


Common Name: WATER HYACINTH
Habit: Perennial herb [annual], generally free-floating. Stem: stout, erect, often connected by stolons. Leaf: +- in basal rosette; blade generally ovate, round or cordate; petiole inflated or not, generally > blade. Inflorescence: spike [panicle, 1-flowered]. Flower: +- bilateral; perianth funnel-shaped, lobes 6; stamens 6, unequal in length; ovary 3-chambered.
Etymology: (J.A.F. Eichhorn, Germany, 1779--1856)
Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms
NATURALIZED
Stem: > 30 cm. Leaf: < 10 cm wide. Inflorescence: 5--15 cm, few- to many-flowered. Flower: perianth lilac or pale blue to white.
Ecology: Locally abundant. Ponds, sloughs, waterways; Elevation: < 200 m. Bioregional Distribution: GV, SnFrB, SCo, PR; Distribution Outside California: widely naturalized, native to tropical America. Flowering Time: Jun--Oct Note: Plants multiply, spread rapidly vegetatively; perhaps world's most troublesome aquatic weed.
Jepson eFlora Author: Charles N. Horn & Elizabeth McClintock
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Noxious Weed listed on the CDFA Weed Pest Ratings table
View the CDFA Pest Rating page for Eichhornia crassipes
Weed listed by Cal-IPC

Previous taxon: Eichhornia
Next taxon: Heteranthera

Botanical illustration including Eichhornia crassipesbotanical illustration including Eichhornia crassipes


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Citation for this treatment: Charles N. Horn & Elizabeth McClintock 2012, Eichhornia crassipes, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=23856, accessed on October 12, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on October 12, 2024.

Eichhornia crassipes
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©2010 Neal Kramer
Eichhornia crassipes
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©2009 Barry Rice
Eichhornia crassipes
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©2013 Neal Kramer
Eichhornia crassipes
click for image enlargement
©2009 Barry Rice
Eichhornia crassipes
click for image enlargement
©2009 Barry Rice

More photos of Eichhornia crassipes
in CalPhotos



Geographic subdivisions for Eichhornia crassipes:
GV, SnFrB, SCo, PR
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map of distribution 1

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).