Waterhyacinth

crassipes: Thick-footed or thick-stalked.

Herb, usually free-floating but occasionally rooted in mud, 4-40 cm. Leaves 4-8, clustered on short rhizomes, erect, very variable; in free-floating plants: petiole 5-10 cm, markedly swollen below; lamina 4-9 cm wide, ovate to circular; in older plants rooted in mud, the petiole is longer and not swollen. Inflorescence a c.8-flowered showy spike, raised above leaves. Perianth tube 20 mm, curved; limb 5-7 cm in diameter, slightly 2-lipped, pale mauve with the central lobe broadest with large blue area and central yellow spot.

Frequent, sometimes locally very abundant.

Neochetina eichhorniae (Mottled water hyacinth weevil)

Tropical and subtropical America and widely naturalised throughout the tropics.