Pontederia
Pontederia cordata
The pike herbs ( Pontederia ) are a genus within the family of water hyacinth plants ( Pontederiaceae ). The six species are marsh and aquatic plants of the New World.
- 5.1 Notes and references
Description
Appearance and leaves
Pontederia species are mostly perennial, sometimes annual herbaceous plants. This marsh or aquatic plants are rooted in the muddy bottom. The submerged stems grow to the water surface or rhizomes are available.
There is Heterophyllie. The submerged, flood or standing above the water surface leaves are arranged in rosettes and undergraduate sitting or distributed on stems and stalked. The underwater leaves the leaf blades are linear. The simple leaf blades of the other leaves are heart - to kidney-shaped with a blunt to tapered at the top. There is Parallelnervatur, wherein the veins are more or less depending on Spreitenform into sheets.
Inflorescences and flowers
The submerged until the water surface reaching or emersed, glandular - downy or finely hairy Blütenstandsschäfte are narrowed below the first node ( wound dry ) something. There are two different bracts ( bracts ) are present, the lower leaves is leaf-like. The other bract is a folded spathe with a pointed tip sharpened to the top. The aged men inflorescences extend during the flowering period and usually contain 50 or more flowers. There are hardly recognizable to present short flower stalks.
The only one day open, hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and threefold. The six unequal bracts are fused funnel-shaped to about half their length. The bare or glandular- hairy bracts are mauve, blue or white. The free area of the bloom is two-lipped. The three-lobed upper lip has a broader middle lobe with yellow spot and the lower lip is three-lobed. The free areas of the bracts are oblong to lanceolate with a blunt wrong - to -sharpened top end. In some species Heterostylie ( Tristylie here ) is available. Of the six stamens have the lower three purple stamens shorter than the upper. The yellow anthers are ovate to oblong. The three carpels are fused to a constant above, dreikammerigen ovary, but only one carpel develops to fruit maturity. It's just a seed conditioning. There are a present to three stylus.
Fruit and seeds
There is formed an egg-shaped fruit hose which has spiny, serrated or smooth longitudinal furrows. The single-seeded nut fruit is egg-shaped with a smooth surface.
Dissemination
The genus Pontederia is widespread in the New World. The Pontederia species thrive in fresh water or marshy areas along the coasts. The center of biodiversity is located in Central America.
Some species are neophytes in tropical to subtropical regions.
System
The genus Pontederia was erected in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum, Tome 1, p 288. As Lectotypusart 1913 Nathaniel Lord Britton determined by and Addison Brown in An illustrated flora of the northern United States, ..., 2nd edition, volume 1, page 462 Pontederia cordata L.. Synonyms for Pontederia L. are: Michelia Adans. nom. illeg. , Narukila Adans. , Umsema Raf., Unisema Raf., Pontedera Hoffmann. , Reussia Endl. nom. cons. , Kadakia Raf., Hirschtia K.Schum. ex Schwartz. The genus name honors the Italian Pontederia Botaner Giulio Pontedera ( 1688-1757 ). The last revision of the genus Pontederia took place in 1973 by Richard Max Lowden in A revision of the genus Pontederia L. Rhodora, Volume 75, pp. 426-487.
The genus belongs to the family of Pontederia Pontederiaceae.
There are about six Pontederia types:
- Herzblättriges Pickerel Weed ( Pontederia cordata L.)
- Pontederia parviflora Alexander
- Round-leaved Pickerel Weed ( Pontederia rotundifolia Lf)
- Pontederia sagittata C.Presl
- Pontederia subovata ( Seub. ) Lowden
- Pontederia triflora ( Seub. ) G.Agostini, D.Velázquez & J.Velásquez
Use
Some species are used as ornamental plants for ponds. The most common Pontederia cordata is used in pond and marsh areas of parks and gardens.
From Pontederia cordata seeds are raw or cooked like rice or eaten dried and ground into flour. The seeds have a nutty flavor raw and it is claimed that when the seeds are lightly toasted in the oven taste very good. The young stems are eaten raw or cooked. All parts of the plant can be eaten raw or cooked as an ingredient in salads, like spinach or added to soups.
Swell
- Charles N. Horn: Pontederiaceae: Pontederia, pp. 45 - text Registered as printed work, Flora of North America Editorial Committee ( eds.): Flora of North America North of Mexico, Volume 26 - Magnoliophyta: Liliidae: Liliales and Orchidales, Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 2002. ISBN 0-19-515208-5. ( Description section )
- Richard Max Lowden: A revision of the genus Pontederia L. Rhodora, Volume 75, 1973, p 426-487: Full text PDF.