A lovely spire of pickerel weed florettes punctuates a lively green aquatic background with its lovely purple colors in Florida

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Spires of aquatic Pickerel Weed punctuate the greens of the wetland with the brilliant purples and lavenders of the tiny florettes which make up the elegant spires. Pickerel Weed serves the wetland as an efficient biological filter and is a wonderful food source for the prettiest swamp chicken, the Purple Gallinule!! It is not uncommon to see them feasting on these delicate buds. The purple spires and the arrow shaped broad leaves of this plant are always wonderful to see in the wetlands. Getting them to stand still on their thin stems in the slightest breeze is another thing. Its scientific name is Pontederia cordata after the Italian botanist, Giulio Pontedera, who Linnaeus honored with its genus name.

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Size: 5124px × 3440px
Location: Wetlands of South Florida, USA
Photo credit: © Judy Lovell-Janthina Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: angiosperm, aquatic, arrow, biological, bird, cordata, filter, flora, florettes, florida, flower, food, gallinule, large, lavender, leaves, mud, pickerel, plant, pontederia, purple, reproduction, rhizomes, shallow, spire, spires, tristylous, vegetative, water, waxy, weed, wetland