Pixel Wild
Pickerelweed
Pickerelweed
Pontederia cordata
Plantae
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
Perennial
Size
Medium
Diet
Photosynthetic
Biome
Freshwater wetland
Range
North America
Movement
Sessile
Breeding
Seeds
Defense
Toxins
Status
Common

About

An emergent wetland plant with heart-shaped leaves and tall spikes of violet-blue flowers rising from shallow pond and marsh margins. Its starchy seeds are edible and were historically gathered as a wild food source.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    seed
    A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
  2. 2.
    sprout
    A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
  3. 3.
    sapling
    A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
  4. 4.
    mature
    Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Liliopsida
Order
Commelinales
Family
Pontederiaceae
Genus
Pontederia
Species
Pontederia cordata