Water Hyacinth

Name

• Scientific Name: Eichhornia crassipes (syn. Pontederia crassipes)

• Common Names: Water Hyacinth, Floating Water Hyacinth

Characteristics

• Appearance: Features glossy, rounded green leaves with spongy, bulbous leaf stalks (petioles) filled with air cells that allow the plant to float effortlessly. Under bright light, it produces spikes of pale blue to lavender flowers with a distinct yellow spot on the top petal.

• Size: Floating rosette reaching 6–18 inches (15–45 cm) in height with long, feathery, dark blue-black root systems extending 12–36 inches below the surface.

• Nutrient Absorber: One of the fastest-growing aquatic plants in the world; acts as a powerful biological filter by stripping massive quantities of nitrates, heavy metals, and phosphates directly from the water column.

• Special Note: Highly invasive in wild, warm aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Disposal should always be handled responsibly (composting or drying out) rather than dumping into local waterways.

Temperature

• Ideal Range: 70°F – 86°F (21°C – 30°C)

• Note: Very sensitive to frost; leaves will turn black and rot if exposed to freezing temperatures.

Lighting

• Requirement: Very High (Full Sun)

• Note: Thrives best under intense outdoor sunlight. Standard indoor aquarium lighting is usually insufficient, causing the leaves to slowly shrink, turn yellow, and rot over time.

CO2: Not Required.

Propagation

• Method: Vegetative Runners (Stolons) or Seeds

• How it works:

  1. Runners: Parent plants rapidly send out horizontal surface runners (stolons) that produce daughter rosettes at the nodes. Simply snip the connecting runner line to separate new plants.

  2. Seeds: Produces tiny seeds after flowering that sink to the sediment and remain viable for years, though vegetative division is the primary method of spread.