Pickerelweed

The Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) in the small pond is blooming like crazy right now and is making a lovely habitat for a multitude of leopard frogs.

Pickerelweed is an aquatic plant often found blooming in Florida ponds, lakes, ditches and waterways. Around this time of year each established plant sends up a single spike of purple-blue blooms that are attractive to butterflies, bees and sometimes even hummingbirds. The flowers rather resemble those of a hyacinth and can also be white in color.

Leaves of pickerelweed are heart shaped and up to about 5 inches across. Mostly growing in shallow waters, this plant can reach heights of about 3 to 4 feet. The wide leaves of the plants provide excellent c0ver for a multitude of fish and other pond dwellers. Leaves of pickerelweed are often eaten by white-tailed deer and the seeds are a great forage for ducks and waterfowl. Almost all parts of this plant are edible, and some even to humans. The young tender leaves when cooked make good greens and the starchy seeds can be roasted or eaten raw.

Pickerelweed gets its genus name from Guilo Pontedera, an 18th century Italian botanist who corresponded with Carolus Linnaeus. Although Pontedera differed with Linnaeus on methods of taxonomy, the father of binomial nomenclature still named this genus Pontederia to honor Pontedera. The species epithet cordata derives from this plant’s cordate, or heart-shaped leaves.

If you have a shallow pond, roadside ditch or persistently wet area of your property, try this aquatic plant to expand your butterfly garden.