What Plant Is Water Hyacinth? Get to Know This Aquatic Plant
The scientific name of water hyacinth is Eichhornia crassipes, also known as water lettuce, Eichhornia, and water floating lotus; it is a floating herbaceous plant in the family Pontederiaceae and genus Eichhornia, native to Brazil, now widely distributed in China's Yangtze River and Yellow River basins and the provinces of South China, often growing in ponds, ditches and rice paddies. In areas suitable for its growth, it often blocks waterways and affects traffic due to excessive reproduction. It was once introduced by many countries and is widely distributed around the world, and has also been listed as one of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.
Water hyacinth has well-developed fibrous roots that are brownish black. The stem is extremely short, and the stolons are light green. The leaves are clustered at the base and arranged in a rosette; the leaf blades are round with a dark green surface, the petioles vary in length, and the base of the petiole has a sheath-like yellow-green bract. The flower scape is multi-angled. The spike usually has 9 to 12 flowers; the petals are purplish blue, and the corolla is slightly bilaterally symmetrical, with a pale purplish red color around the edge and blue in the middle. In the center of the blue there is 1 yellow round spot, and the bases of the tepals are fused into a tube. The capsule is ovate. The flowering period is July to October, and the fruiting period is August to November.
Water hyacinth prefers a warm, humid environment with plenty of sunlight and is highly adaptable. The suitable water temperature is 18 to 23°C; it can also grow above 35°C, and stops growing when the air temperature is below 10°C. It has a certain degree of cold tolerance. It likes to grow in shallow water and can also grow in water bodies with slow flow, drifting with the water. It reproduces rapidly. After flowering, the flower stem bends into the water to grow, and the ovary develops and expands in the water.
Water hyacinth has a strong enrichment effect on various inorganic elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium, among which its enrichment of the macronutrient potassium is especially prominent. Among the existing ways of utilizing Eichhornia crassipes resources, the simpler and more common methods are composting it into organic fertilizer and producing biogas; its dry powder or the ash after burning can also be used directly as fertilizer or a soil amendment. The flowers and tender leaves can be eaten directly; they taste fresh and refreshing and have the effect of moistening the intestines and relieving constipation.
Water hyacinth is a floating herbaceous plant with well-developed fibrous roots and an extremely short stem. Its flowers are light blue and shaped like a multi-angled trumpet, with the upper petal larger. In the center of the petal there is an obvious bright yellow spot, shaped like a phoenix eye and also like the flower spot at the tip of a peacock feather, very eye-catching and beautiful. It is often used as a landscaping material in garden waterscapes; planted in a corner of a small pond and framed with bamboo, it has a secluded rustic charm.
Water hyacinth is a good plant for monitoring environmental pollution. It can monitor whether arsenic is present in water and can also purify harmful substances such as mercury, cadmium and lead in water. During growth it can absorb large amounts of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus as well as certain heavy metal elements from water bodies, and its effect is even better in purifying water bodies of industrial wastewater or domestic sewage containing more organic matter.