Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Eichhornia crassipes
Common name
Water hyacinth, Water orchid, Nile lily
Family
Pontederiaceae
Where found
In still fresh water or slow-moving waterways. Mostly Sydney area and the lower Blue Mountains. Rarely elsewhere.
Notes
Erect, emergent, free-floating, stoloniferous perennial herb to 1 m high. Stolons about 10 cm long, hairless, with dark coloured feather-like roots to 100 cm long on the water surface, giving rise to new plants. Leaves in basal rosettes, 2-25 cm long, 20-250 mm wide, hairless, glossy, with almost parallel veins. Leaf stalks spongy, often inflated and buoyant. Flowers purple, bluish or mauve (rarely white), 30-70 mm in diameter, with 6 'petals', fused below into a tube 10-20 mm long. The upper 'petal' with a darker blue patch with a yellow centre. Flowers in spikes to 50 cm long, of 3-35 flowers. Flowering: during the warmer months.
A Weed of National Significance. General Biosecurity Duty with additional restrictions all NSW. Pest plant ACT. Noxious weed Vic.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Eichhornia~crassipes (accessed 12 January, 2021)
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