FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Elongated, heart-shaped leaves; base of flowering stalk is surrounded by a leaf base.
Synonym(s): Pontederia lanceolata
Description: Clumping perennial herb, to 1 m tall.
Leaves: Simple, entire, elongate, heart-shaped leaves, 7 to 18 cm long.
Flowers/Fruit: Spikes of showy, blue or bluish-purple tubular flowers. Fruits are tight clusters of wrinkly seeds. Blooms May through October; fruits soon after flowering.
Habit and Range: Muddy shores and shallow waters of ponds, lakes and ditches throughout North Carolina, except in the northern Mountains.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Pontedaria cordata (pickerelweed) leaves could be confused with those of Sagittaria latifolia (broadleaf arrowhead), which often grows in the same places but has white flowers. Pontederia cordata has a similar overall leaf shape to Saururus cernuus (lizard's tail), but Saururus cernuus leaves have pointed tips, attaching all along the central stem. The heart-shaped leaves of Pontederia cordata have no midrib as in Peltandra virginica (green arrow arum).
Click here to view Sagittaria latifolia.
Click here to view Saururus cernuus.
Click here to view Peltandra virginica.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
