PICKERELWEED 



BOTANICAL 

 Pickerelweed (Pontederia) in the United States has been classed 

 either as one species, P. cordata with a variety lanceolata, or as two 

 species. The lanceolate-leaf form is restricted mainly to the South. 

 Pickerelweed has wide range in the East, but its main abundance 

 and most extensive beds are in fresh or slightly brackish water 

 along the Atlantic Coast and in the southern part of the Great 

 Lakes area. The spikes of blue flowers are distinctive, and so are 

 the somewhat heart-shaped leaves with rounded bases and no prom- 

 inent veins. The plants are perennial from thick rootstocks. 



IMPORTANCE 



Seeds of pickerelweed are seldom eaten by ducks, and the plants 

 are, in general, liabilities rather than assets in waterfowl habitat. 



CONTROL 

 Limited experiments with pickerelweed in Delaware have indi- 

 cated that the best control known at present is a double treatment : 

 a foliage spraying of 2,4-D at the rate of 8 pounds acid equivalent 

 per acre during the flowering period (late June in Delaware) fol- 

 lowed 4 to 6 weeks later by a treatment with Ammate at 60 pounds 

 active per acre. 



REFERENCE 



1954. The Marshes of Delaware, Their Improvement and Preservation (p. 34). 

 John H. Steenis and others. Delaware Board Game and Fish Comm. 



