Index / Search / Pontederia cordata

§1 Plant

Pontederia cordata L.

vernacular pickerelweed — species · Pontederiaceae


USDA
POCO14
GBIF
2766030
Rank
species
pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Platephotograph · J Miner source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Pontederiaceae Kunth
Genus
Pontederia
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-23 °F minimum
Frost-free days
110 min.
Precipitation
40–60 in/yr
pH range
4.9–8.7
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Bunch
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
3.2 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Blue
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
5,000
Propagation
seed, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/POCO14 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2766030 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z