Eichhornia crassipes

Botanical Description

Eichhornia crassipes is an aquatic plant that can be free-floating in the water or rooting into the mud in shallow water. It grows 50 - 100cm tall[ 413 Title Global Invasive Species Database Publication Author Website http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Very detailed information on almost 400 species (with more being added) of plants that have become weeds in areas outside their native range. , 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. Considered to be one of the worst weeds in the world, water hyacinth can also be used to remove pollutants from water, provide organic matter for biomass and is edible. The plant is grown as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. This is an extremely fast growing plant. Under favourable conditions it can double the area it is covering every 6 - 15 days. It has escaped from cultivation and become a very invasive weed of water courses in the tropics[ 260 Title Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 Publication Author Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Publisher Pan Books, London. Year 1998 ISBN 0-330-37376-5 Description Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside. ], causing great environmental problems in many areas where it has become naturalized. Great care should be taken if introducing it to new ponds, but it is easy to control when grown in confined areas[ 302 Title Tropical Ornamentals; A Guide Publication Author Whistler. W. Arthur. Publisher Timber Press Inc. Oregon. Year 2000 ISBN 0-88192-448-2 Description An excellent little guide to some of the more commonly cultivated ornamental plants of the Tropics, often giving some information on the plants other uses. ]. It is extremely important, when removing any plant material from the pond, that it is not released into any other water course[ K Title Plants for a Future Author Ken Fern Description Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips. ]. Subsistence farmers in Bangladesh face disaster when rafts of water hyacinth weighing up to 300 tonnes per hectare float over their rice paddies. As the floods recede, the weeds remain on the germinating rice, thus killing it[ 269 Title Handbook of Energy Crops Publication Author Duke. J. Website https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html Publisher - Year 1983 ISBN - Description Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants. ]. Engineers have estimated that the Panama Canal would be impassable within three years without continuous aquatic weed control measures[ 269 Title Handbook of Energy Crops Publication Author Duke. J. Website https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html Publisher - Year 1983 ISBN - Description Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants. ].