Pontederia crassipes (formerly Eichhornia crassipes), commonly known as common water hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive species outside its native range.[ Pontederia crassipes. Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Plants of the World Online. Accessed April 19, 2022.][ Eichhornia crassipes. Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Plants of the World Online. Accessed April 19, 2022.][ Kochuripana, Water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes . June 15, 2016. Flora of Bangladesh. Accessed April 19, 2022.] It is the sole species of the subgenus Oshunae within the genus Pontederia.[ Anecdotally, it is known as the "terror of Bengal" due to its invasive growth tendencies.
]
Description
Water hyacinth is a free-floating Perennial plant aquatic plant (or hydrophyte) native to tropical and subtropical South America. With broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, water hyacinth may rise above the surface of the water as much as in height. The leaf are across on a Plant stem, which is floating by means of buoyant bulb-like nodules at its base above the water surface. They have long, spongy, bulbous stalks. The feathery, freely hanging roots are purple-black. An erect stalk supports a single spike of 8–15 conspicuously attractive , mostly lavender to pink in colour with six petals. When not in bloom, water hyacinth may be mistaken for frogbit ( Limnobium spongia
One of the fastest-growing plants known, water hyacinth reproduces primarily by way of runners or , which eventually form daughter plants. Each plant additionally can produce thousands of seeds each year, and these seeds can remain viable for more than 28 years.[ In terms of plant count rather than size, they are said to multiply by more than a hundredfold in number in a matter of 23 days.
]
In their native range, the flowers are pollinated by long-tongued bees, and the plants can reproduce both sexually and clonally. The invasiveness of the hyacinth is related to its ability to clone itself, and large patches are likely to all be part of the same genetic form.
Water hyacinth has three flower morphs and is termed "Heterostyly". The flower morphs are named for the length of their pistils: long (L), medium (M), and short (S).[Barrett, Spencer C.H. (1977) Tristyly in Eichhornia crassipes (Water Hyacinth). Biotropica, 9: 230–238] This geographical distribution of the floral morphs indicates that have played a prominent role in the species' worldwide spread.[Barrett, Spencer C.H. (1989) Waterweed invasions. Scientific American, 260: 90–97.]
Habitat and ecology
Its habitat ranges from tropics to Subtropics or warm, temperate desert to rainforest zones. The temperature tolerance of the water hyacinth is:
-
Its minimum growth temperature is
-
Its optimum growth temperature is
-
Its maximum growth temperature is
Its pH tolerance is estimated at 5.0–7.5. Leaves are killed by frost and plants do not tolerate water temperatures more than . Water hyacinths do not grow where the average salinity is greater than 15% that of sea water (around 5 g salt per kg). In salinity, its leaves show epinasty and chlorosis, and eventually die. Rafts of harvested water hyacinth have been floated to the sea, which kills it.
Azotobacter chroococcum, a species of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, is probably concentrated around the bases of the petioles, but the bacteria do not fix nitrogen unless the plant is suffering extreme nitrogen deficiency.[ apud .]
Fresh plants contain prickly .[ This plant is reported to contain hydrogen cyanide, , and Terpenoid, and may induce .][ Medicinal plants of east and southeast Asia. By L.M Perry. 1980. MIT Press, Cambridge. Cited in .] Plants sprayed with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) may accumulate lethal doses of nitrates[ Tropical feeds. Feed information summaries and nutritive values. By B. Gohl. 1981. FAO Animal Production and Health Series 12. FAO, Rome. Cited in .] and other harmful elements in pollution.
Invasive species
Water hyacinth grows and reproduces quickly, so it can cover large portions of ponds and lakes.[
]
/ref> Particularly vulnerable are bodies of water that have already been affected by human activities, such as artificial reservoirs or Eutrophication lakes that receive large amounts of nutrients.
Water hyacinth can absorb a large amount of harmful heavy metals and other substances. After death, it rots and sinks to the bottom of the water, causing secondary pollution to the water body, destroying the natural water quality, and may even affect the quality of residents' drinking water in severe cases. Water where water hyacinth grows heavily is often a breeding place for (e.g.
The invasion of water hyacinth also has socioeconomic consequences. Since water hyacinth is composed of up to 95% water, its evapotranspiration rate is high.
Water hyacinth has been widely introduced in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and New Zealand.
A 1.22 Gb/8 chromosome reference genome was assembled to study Nuclear genome and chloroplast genomes between 10 water hyacinth lines from 3 continents.
Further, the genomic study also revealed the adaptation in four key pathways; plant-pathogen interaction, plant-hormone signal transduction, photosynthesis and abiotic stress tolerance, which provide water hyacinth to expand its niche and compete with other native flora.
United States
Introduction into the U.S.
Various accounts are given as to how the water hyacinth was introduced to the United States.
The claim that the water hyacinth was introduced to the U.S. in 1884 at the World's Fair in New Orleans, also known as the World Cotton Centennial,[
]
At some point, a legend arose that the plants had been given away as a gift by a Japanese delegation at the fair. This claim is absent in a pertinent article published in a military engineer's trade journal dating to 1940,[ but appears in a piece penned in 1941 by the director of the wildlife and fisheries division at the Louisiana Department of Conservation, where the author writes, "the Japanese government maintained a Japanese building" at the fair, and the "Japanese staff imported from Venezuela considerable numbers of water hyacinth, which were given away as souvenirs".][ The claim has been repeated by later writers, with various shifts in the details. Thus National Academy of Sciences fellow Noel D. Vietmeyer (1975) wrote that "Japanese entrepreneurs" introduced the plant into the U.S., and the plants had been "collected from the Orinoco River in Venezuela." This claim was echoed by a pair of NASA researchers (), who asserted that the souvenir plants were carelessly dumped in various waterways.][: " Japanese exhibitors coming to the 1884 Cotton States Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, brought along this aquatic plant because of its beautiful lavender flowers. They had collected the water hyacinths from the Orinoco River in Venezuela. These plants were given away at the exposition as souvenirs".] Canadian biologist Spencer C. H. Barrett (2004) meanwhile favored the theory they were first cultivated in garden ponds, after which they multiplied and escaped to the environs.[: "..In that year water hyacinths imported from the lower Orinoco River in Venezuela were distributed as gifts by a Japanese delegation".] The account gains different details as told by children's story-teller Carole Marsh (1992), who says "Japan gave away water hyacinth seeds" during the exposition,[ and another Southern raconteur, Gaspar J. "Buddy" Stall (1998), assured his readership that the Japanese gave each family a package of those seeds.][
]
One paper has also inquired into the role which catalog sales of seeds and plants may have played in the dissemination of invasive plants. P. crassipes was found to have been offered in the 1884 issue of Bordentown, New Jersey–based Edmund D. Sturtevant's Catalogue of Rare Water Lilies and Other Choice Aquatic Plants,[ and of Germany has offered the plant since 1864 (when the firm was founded).][ By 1895, it was offered by seed purveyors in the states of New Jersey, New York, California, and Florida.]
Harper's Weekly magazine (1895) printed an anecdotal account stating that a certain man from New Orleans collected and brought home water hyacinths from Colombia, around 1892, and the plant proliferated in a matter of 2 years.
Infestation and control in the Southeast
As the hyacinths multiply into mats, they may be detrimental to some species of fish, and choke waterways for boating and shipping. This effect was already observed in the state of Louisiana by the turn of the 20th century.
The plant was introduced in Florida in 1890,[
]
In the early 20th century, the U.S. War Department (i.e., the Army Corps of Engineers) tested various means of eradicating the plants, including jet-streaming steam and hot water, applying various strong acids or petroleum followed by incineration. Spraying with saturated salt solution killed the plants but was considered prohibitively expensive. The engineers selected Harvesta brand herbicide, whose active ingredient was arsenic acid, as the optimal cost-effective tool for eradication.
In 1910 the New Foods Society suggested to import and release hippopotamus from Africa into the rivers and bayous of Louisiana to eat the water hyacinth and solve another serious problem at the time, the American meat crisis.
Water hyacinths have also been introduced into waters inhabited by manatees in Florida, for the purpose of bioremediation (cf. §Phytoremediation below) of the waters that have become contaminated and fallen victim to .[ The manatees include the water hyacinth in their diet,][ but it may not be the food of first choice for them.
]
Legality of sale and shipment in the United States
In 1956, E. crassipes was banned for sale or shipment in the United States, subject to a fine and/or imprisonment.
Africa
The water hyacinth may have been introduced into Egypt in the late 18th to early 19th century during Muhammad Ali of Egypt's era, but was not recognized as an invasive threat until 1879.[Gopal; Junk; Davis (2000) , Biodiversity in Wetlands 2p. 109.]
The plant (Afrikaans: waterhiasint[) arguably invaded South Africa in 1910,][apud Gopal; Junk; Davis (2000) , Biodiversity in Wetlands 2p. 109.] although earlier dates have been claimed. A waterbody extensively threatened by water hyacinth is the Hartebeespoort Dam near Brits in North West Province.
The plant was introduced by Belgian to Rwanda to beautify their holdings. It then advanced by natural means to Lake Victoria, where it was first sighted in 1988.
The water hyacinth has also appeared in Ethiopia, where it was first reported in 1965 at the Koka Reservoir and in the Awash River, where the Ethiopian Electric Light and Power Authority has managed to bring it under moderate control at considerable cost of human labor. Other infestations in Ethiopia include many bodies of water in the Gambela Region, the Blue Nile from Lake Tana into Sudan, and Lake Ellen near Alem Tena.[ Cited in ] By 2018, it has become a serious problem on Lake Tana in Ethiopia.
The water hyacinth is also present on the Shire River in the Liwonde National Park in Malawi.
Asia
The water hyacinth was introduced to Bengal, India, because of its ornamental flowers and shapes of leaves, but became an invasive weed, draining oxygen from the water bodies and resulting in devastation of fish stocks.[, apud Petr, T. (2000) Interactions Between Fish and Aquatic Macrophytes in Inland Waters: A Review, p. 84] The water hyacinth was referred to as the "(beautiful) blue devil" in Bengal and "Bengal terror" elsewhere in India; it was called "German weed" (Bengali: Germani pana) in Bangladesh out of belief the German Kaiser submarine mission
The plant entered Japan in 1884 for horticultural appreciation, according to conventional wisdom, but a researcher devoted to the study of the plant has discovered that ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kunisada (or Utagawa Toyokuni III, d. 1865) produced a wood-block print featuring the water hyacinth, goldfish, and bijin, dated to 1855. The plant is floated on the water surface of filled (glassware) fishbowls[ or glazed earthenware waterlily pots (hibachi pots serving as substitute).][
]
In the 1930s, water hyacinth was introduced into China as a Animal feed, ornamental plant, and sewage-control plant, and it was widely planted in the south as an animal feed. Beginning in the 1980s, with the rapid development of China's inland industry, the eutrophication of inland waters has intensified. With the help of its efficient asexual reproduction and environmental adaptation mechanisms, water hyacinth began to spread widely in river basins. The hyacinths has blocked rivers and hindered water traffic. For example, many waterways in Zhejiang and other provinces have been blocked by the rapidly growing water hyacinth. In addition, a large number of water hyacinths floating in the water block sunlight from entering the water, and its decay consumes dissolved oxygen in the water, pollutes water quality, and can kill other aquatic plants. The outbreak of water hyacinth has seriously affected the biodiversity of the local ecosystem and threatened the production, life, and health of community residents.
Europe
In 2016, the European Union banned any sales of the water hyacinth in the EU.
Oceania
In Papua New Guinea, water hyacinth blocks sunlight to other aquatic organisms, creates habitat for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, clogs waterways to the point that boats cannot get through, and reduces the quality of water for purposes such as cooking, washing, and drinking. People have lost income or even died due to being unable to travel to get food or medical care, or due to diseases from contaminated water or mosquitoes.
Control
Control depends on the specific conditions of each affected location such as the extent of water hyacinth infestation, regional climate, and proximity to human and wildlife.
Chemical control
Chemical control is the least used of the three controls of water hyacinth, because of its long-term effects on the environment and human health. The use of herbicides requires strict approval from governmental protection agencies and skilled technicians to handle and spray the affected areas. The use of chemical herbicides is only used in case of severe infiltration of water hyacinth.
The chemical regulation of water hyacinths can be done using common herbicides such as 2,4-D, glyphosate, and diquat. The herbicides are sprayed on the water hyacinth leaves and leads to direct changes to the physiology of the plant.
The herbicide known as diquat is a liquid bromide salt that can rapidly penetrate the leaves of the water hyacinth and lead to immediate inactivity of plant cells and cellular processes. The herbicide glyphosate has a lower toxicity than the other herbicides, so takes longer for the water hyacinth mats to be destroyed (about three weeks). The symptoms include steady wilting of the plants and a yellow discoloration of the plant leaves that eventually leads to plant decay.
Physical control
Physical control is performed by land-based machines, such as bucket cranes, draglines, or boom, or by water-based machinery such as aquatic weed harvesters,
The spinning cutters of plant-harvesting machinery leave fragments of water hyacinth behind that can reproduce asexually.
Harvested water hyacinth can pose a health risk to humans because of the plant's propensity for absorbing contaminants,
Biological control
As chemical and mechanical removals are often too expensive, polluting, and ineffective, researchers have turned to biological control agents to deal with water hyacinth. The effort began in the 1970s, when USDA researchers released into the United States three species of known to feed on water hyacinth, Neochetina bruchi, N. eichhorniae, and the water hyacinth borer Sameodes albiguttalis. The weevil species were introduced into the Gulf Coast states, such as Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, where thousands of acres were infested by water hyacinth. A decade later, a decrease was found in water hyacinth mats by as much as 33%, but because the lifecycle of the weevils is 90 days, the use of biological predation to efficiently suppress water hyacinth growth is limited.
In May 2010, the USDA's Agricultural Research Service released Megamelus scutellaris as an additional biological control insect for the invasive water hyacinth species. M. scutellaris is a small planthopper insect native to Argentina. Researchers have been studying the effects of the biological control agent in extensive host-range studies since 2006 and concluded that the insect is highly Host specificity and will not pose a threat to any other plant population other than the targeted water hyacinth. Researchers also hope that this biological control will be more resilient than existing biological controls and the herbicides that are already in place to combat the invasive water hyacinth.[ Another insect being considered as a biological control agent is the semiaquatic grasshopper Cornops aquaticum. This insect is specific to the water hyacinth and its family, and besides feeding on the plant, it introduces a secondary pathogenic infestation. This grasshopper has been introduced into South Africa in controlled trials.][
]
The Rhodes University Centre for Biological Control is rearing M. scutellaris and the water hyacinth N. eichhorniae and N. bruchi en masse for biological control at dams in South Africa, including the Hartbeespoort Dam.
Uses
Bioenergy
Due to its high growth rate, Pontederia crassipes is an excellent source of biomass. of standing crop produces more than of biogas (70% , 30% ).[Curtis, C.R.; Duke., J.A.(1982) An assessment of land biomass and energy potential for the Republic of Panama, vol. 3. Institute of Energy Conversion. Univ. Delaware. apud .]
Bill Wolverton and McDonald report approximately methane, indicating biomass requirements of to attain the yield projected by the National Academy of Sciences (Washington).[Wolverton, B.C.; McDonald, R.C. (1981) "Energy from vascular plant wastewater treatment systems – Eichhornia crassipes, Spirodela lemna, Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, Pueraria lobata, biomass harvested for fuel production", Economic Botany 35 (2), pp. 224–232, , apud .] Ueki and Kobayashi mention more than per year.[Cultivation of new biomass resources. By K. Ueki and T. Kobayashi. 1981. Energy Develop. in Japan. 3(3):285–300. Cited in .] Reddy and Tucker found an experimental maximum of more than per day.[ Productivity and nutrient uptake of water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes. By K.R. Reddy and J.C. Tucker. 1983. 1. Effect of nitrogenous source. Econ. Bot. 37(2):237–247. Cited in .]
farmers collect and pile up these plants to dry at the onset of the cold season; they then use the dry water hyacinths as fuel. The ashes are used as fertilizer. In India, of dried water hyacinth yields about 50 liters ethanol and 200 kg residual fiber (7,700 Btu). Bacterial fermentation of yields 26,500 ft3 gas (600 Btu) with 51.6% methane (), 25.4% hydrogen (), 22.1% carbon dioxide (), and 1.2% oxygen (). Gasification of dry matter by air and steam at high temperatures () gives about 40,000 ft3 (1,100 m3) natural gas (143 Btu/ft3) containing 16.6% , 4.8% , 21.7% (carbon monoxide), 4.1% , and 52.8% (nitrogen). The high moisture content of water hyacinth adds to handling costs and limits commercial use.[ The wealth of India. By C.S.I.R. (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research). 1948–1976. 11 vols. New Delhi. Cited in .] A continuous, hydroponic production system would be more efficient than conventional batch operation.[Benemann, J.R. (1981) "Energy from fresh and brackish water aquatic plants", pp. 99–121. In: Klass, D.L. (ed.), Biomass as a non-fossil fuel source. ACS Symposium Series 144. ACS. Washington. Cited in .]
The labor involved in water hyacinth can be reduced by locating collection sites and processors on impoundments that take advantage of prevailing . The harvested biomass can be converted to ethanol, biogas, hydrogen, gaseous nitrogen, and/or fertilizer.[x] The byproduct water can be used to irrigate nearby .[
]
Phytoremediation, waste water treatment
Water hyacinth could be used to remove arsenic from contaminated tube well water in Bangladesh.[Misbahuddin, M.; Fariduddin, A.T.M. (2002). "Water Hyacinth Removes Arsenic from Arsenic-Contaminated Drinking Water". Archives of Environmental Health. 57: 516- 518.]
Water hyacinth is observed to enhance nitrification in wastewater treatment cells. The root zones host bacterial communities.
Water hyacinth is a common fodder plant in the third world especially Africa though excessive use can be toxic. It is high in protein (nitrogen) and .
Water hyacinth is reported for its efficiency to remove about 60–80% nitrogen.[Fox, LJ; Struik, PC; Appleton, BL; Rule, JH; et al. (2008) Nitrogen phytoremediation by water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms). Water Air Soil Pollut 194:199–207] and about 69% of potassium from water.[Zhou, W; Zhu, D; Tan, L; Liao, S; Hu, H; David, H; et al. (2007) Extraction and retrieval of potassium from water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes). Biores Tech 98:226–231]
The roots of water hyacinth were found to remove particulate matter and nitrogen in a natural shallow eutrophicated wetland.[Billore, SK; Bharadio, R; Kumar, A; et al. (1998) Potential removal of particulate matter and nitrogen through roots of water hyacinth in a tropical natural wetland. Curr Sci 74:154–156]
The plant is tolerant of, and has a high capacity for, the uptake of heavy metals, including cadmium, chromium, cobalt, nickel, lead, and mercury, which could make it suitable for the biocleaning of industrial wastewater.
The of Pontederia crassipes naturally absorb some organic compounds believed to be , in concentrations 10,000 times that in the surrounding water.[
]
In addition to heavy metals, Pontederia crassipes can also remove other toxins, such as cyanide, which is environmentally beneficial in areas that have endured gold-mining operations.
Water hyacinth can take in and degrade ethion, a phosphorus pesticide.
Agriculture
Water hyacinth is used as an organic fertilizer[ and as animal feed][ and silage for cattle, sheep, geese, , and other livestock.]
In Bengal, India the kachuri-pana has been used primarily for fertilizer, compost or mulch, and secondarily as fodder for livestock and fish.[ In Bangladesh, farmers in the southwestern region cultivate vegetables on "floating gardens" usually with a bamboo-built frame base, with dried mass of water hyacinth covered in soil as bedding as a large portion of cultivable land goes under water for months during monsoon in this low-lying region. This method is also known as dhap chash and vasoman chash.][
]
In Kenya, East Africa, it has been used experimentally as organic fertilizer, although there is controversy stemming from the high alkaline pH value.
Other uses
In various places in the world, the plant is used for making furniture, handbags, baskets, rope, and household goods/interior products (lampshades, picture frames) by businesses launched by NGOs and entrepreneurs.[
]
Woven products
American-Nigerian Achenyo Idachaba has won an award for showing how this plant can be exploited for profit as woven products in Nigeria.
Paper
Though a study found water hyacinths of limited use for paper production,
Edibility
The plant is used as a carotene-rich table vegetable in Taiwan. sometimes cook and eat the green parts and inflorescence.[ Vietnamese also cook the plant and sometimes add its young leaves and flower to their salads.
]
Potential as bioherbicidal agent
Water hyacinth leaf extract has been shown to exhibit phytotoxicity against another invasive weed Mimosa pigra. The extract inhibited the germination of M. pigra seeds in addition to suppressing the root growth of the seedlings. Biochemical data suggested that the inhibitory effects may be mediated by enhanced hydrogen peroxide production, inhibition of soluble peroxidase activity, and stimulation of cell wall-bound peroxidase activity in the root tissues of M. pigra.
Gallery
File:Water_hyacinth.jpg|alt=Floating plant
File:IMG 2365.jpg|alt=Flowers
File:Eichhornia crassipes A.jpg|alt=Close-up of flowers
File:Eichhornia crassipes-water hyacinth.jpg|alt=Large infested pond
File:Eichhornia_Crassipes.jpg|Inflated petiole
File:Water hyacinth in a field.jpg|A field full of Water hyacinth.
File:Eichhornia crassipes field at Langkawi.jpg|Huge swamp field|alt=Huge infested swamp field
Explanatory notes
Bibliography
External links
