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QUARTERMASTER CORPS 



q. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) . — ^While this 

 plant is a native of Brazil and of comparatively recent intro- 

 duction in the Old World Tropics, it is now widely naturalized 

 and wherever it occurs it is usually very abundant. The 



FiGTjRE 46. — ^Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) . 



flowers are blue with a yellow spot. They float on ponds and 

 slow streams, and also occur as a weed in rice paddies. In 

 Malaya the young leaves, leaf stalks, and flowering parts are 

 steamed or boiled and eaten. Local names: Bengok, wewean, 

 etjeng-gondok, riri-vdi. 



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