Hello, I'm the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/
Here's your outdoor tip on water hyacinths. You often see these floating perennial plants in backwater areas or along the edges of rivers or ponds. They display their light blue to violet flowers on terminal spikes coming out of the plant. The average person often sees these beautiful plants as a pleasant addition to our waterways. Unfortunately, many people find water hyacinths as a destructive invasive species.
It is thought that the history of the water hyacinth in the United States dates back to before 1880 in Brazil. In 1882, the National Cotton Planters Association planned a centennial exposition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the cotton industry. New Orleans was chosen for the event and the city was decorated as never before with December 16, 1884 being the opening day of the exposition. The Exposition built Horticultural Hall, the largest greenhouse in the world. It remained in use on the site until it was destroyed in a 1915 hurricane. More than one million visitors attended the exposition and the water hyacinth captured the interest of many of the attendees.
The beauty of the hyacinth soon carried it to Florida and it spread throughout the Southern United States. It was quick to naturalize in many southern states. Fast forward to today, and the water hyacinth is considered a noxious weed and one of the worst aquatic plants. It’s illegal to export or import them into several states. They grow so quickly that they block waterways and are difficult to control.
The water hyacinth is generally described as a free-floating perennial plant that can grow as high as three feet. Its dark green leaves are circular to elliptical and attached to a spongy inflated petiole. Underneath the water the plant has a thick dark fibrous root system. Blue to violet flowers are seen on terminal spikes coming from the plants. They have a yellow eye on one petal and last about one day—but will bloom throughout the season. It is an aggressive invader and can form thick mats that cover can cover the entire surface of an area of water depleting oxygen and killing the fish. Hyacinths must be controlled so they do not cover the entire area of a body of water.
On the positive side, water hyacinths bear leathery foliage that helps to provide shade and the roots provide filtration, a spawning area for the fish, and absorb nutrients from the water, helping to reduce algae. It’s also an excellent water clarifier. An excellent habitat for many micro and macro invertebrates is provided underneath these plants. These creatures in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife such as amphibians and ducks. After they die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provide food form aquatic invertebrates. Makes the plants sound helpful and beneficial—but unfortunately, the water hyacinth is a good example of “too much of a good thing, however. It is easy for them to get out of control and take over a body of water making it inhabitable for other life forms. The actual water hyacinth plant in itself has no known food value to wildlife.
Don’t confuse the water hyacinth with another tropical floating-leaved plant, called water lettuce. Water lettuce doesn't have showy flowers and has large ribbed leaves. It is much less cold-tolerant and is not able to survive in cold climates
Remember the characteristics of the water hyacinth:
They are floating plants with round to oval, shiny green leaves
Leaves are held upright and can act like sails moving the plant on the surface of the water
The leaf stalk is thick and spongy keeping the plant buoyant
A mass of fine roots hang underneath the plant
The flowers are large (2-3 inches) blue-purple or lilac in color with a yellow spot
So when you see water hyacinths in the outdoors, you can recognize their attractiveness, but remember their beauty is deceiving and they can be invasive, destructive plans destroying the nature environment of an area.
This is the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/
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References-Additional Reading
Water Hyacinth
http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/plant-identification/alphabetical-index/water-hyacinth/
Non-native Invasive Freshwater Plants
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/weeds/hyacinth.html
Harmful Aquatic Hitchhikers: Plants: Water Hyacinth
http://www.protectyourwaters.net/hitchhikers/plants_water_hyacinth.php
Nature Quotient.
eBook @Amazon.com
Outdoor Professor’s Tips: Exploring the Wonders of Nature
eBook @Amazon.com
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