Water Hyacinth

Water hyacinth are a free-floating perennial aquatic plant native to tropical and sub-tropical South America.   They can be grown both outdoors and indoors.  They have free hanging purple roots that can be clearly seen if they are placed in glass containers.  Each flower has six petals and are lavender or pink in colour with a yellow dot.  

They grow thickly over lakes and were used to fool Japanese pilots in World War II, into thinking that the water bodies were fields and lead to crashes.  When not controlled they can lead to clogging of lakes and destroy aquatic life in the water.  It is now being used as organic feed.  In Assam, they are making eco friendly weaves out of water hyacinth.

Botanical name: Eichornia crassipes    Family: Pontederiaceae (pickerelweed family

Photographed at R's house at Jubilee Hills.