Scientific name: Eichhornia crassipes. )Solms

Euphorbiaceae and Eichhornia.

Alias: water hyacinth, water hyacinth

Perennial floating herbs. Because it grows on the water, it is also called water lily. Because there is a big bubble like a gourd between the root and the leaf, it is also called water hyacinth. The stems and leaves of Eichhornia crassipes hang on the water, and the tillers crawl on the water. The flowers are polygonal and trumpet-shaped, and the colors are gorgeous and beautiful. The leaves are dark green. The leaves are full, smooth and textured. With developed fibrous roots, rapid tillering and propagation and extensive management, it is a good plant to beautify the environment and purify water quality.

Morphological characteristics:

Eichhornia crassipes has small bubbles on each leaf, which bear the weight of the leaves and grow on the water. Its root system is developed, and the main root (fleshy root) tillers the next generation. Leaves are solitary, basically lotus leaf-shaped, with slightly concave and flat top; The stem (stem) is gray, the vesicle is slightly red, the tender root is white, and the old root is black; The flowers are light blue, with polygonal horns and yellow spots on the petals, which look like the spots at the end of cheng and peacock feathers. They are very dazzling and beautiful.

Ecological habits:

Eichhornia crassipes likes to grow on sunny and calm water or wet and fertile slopes. Under the conditions of long sunshine time and high temperature, it grows faster, and leaves and stems turn yellow after freezing. At the end of April and the beginning of May each year, it germinates on the old roots of the past years, and sleeps after first frost at the end of the year. Under the conditions of suitable water quality, temperature and good ventilation, the plant height can reach 50cm, generally 20 cm ~ 30 cm. For example, when floating on the slope of swamp, the height of plants on wet shore is only 65,438+00 cm ~ 20 cm. Eichhornia crassipes germinates quickly. When the mother plant grows to 6-8 leaves in the middle of spring, it begins to sprout the next generation of new seedlings. First, the seedling grows two leaves, and then the main root (fleshy root) grows. With the increase of leaves, the taproot grows and extends to the water surface, which does not affect the growth of the mother plant. Strong mother plants can grow 4-5 seedlings at a time, so they reproduce very quickly. Eichhornia crassipes blooms from August to 10 every year in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with a long flowering period. It takes 4-5 days for each crop, and 4-5 days after the first crop withers, the plant blooms again in the second crop, with two or three crops. There are 15 ~ 18 buds with good growth, at least three buds. When flowering, the average temperature is 25℃, drifting on the swamp slope, and it is easy to bloom on the wet shore, which is one to two years longer than floating in the water. About 5 ~ 10 flowers per ear.

Cultivation:

Batch cultivation can use wet scattered land or idle swamp in front of and behind the house. In June and July, strong seedlings with low plant height should be transplanted, and 50% of the open space should be reserved for tillering and reproduction after planting. Proper management after transplanting, keep the soil layer moist, strengthen illumination and ensure ventilation. If you want to extend the flowering period, you can keep warm in a plastic greenhouse and ventilate for an hour or two at noon. After the flower buds are formed, they can be transplanted into small pots. Culture in acidic soil or nutrient solution. Removing the old leaves and leaving 4 ~ 5 young leaves and ears can not only prolong the flowering period, but also move to desks and other places to watch.

Pest control:

Diseases rarely occur in sunny and well-ventilated environments. Low temperature, poor ventilation, etc. It can also make Pieris rapae feed on young leaves, and a small amount can be captured, which can generally be killed by dimethoate emulsion.

Management:

Eichhornia crassipes likes to grow in shallow ponds with fertile soil, and the water depth is about 30 cm. Many provinces in China use mother plants for winter protection and keep them in ponds in spring. High temperature season, rapid reproduction. Its cultivation management is the same as other aquatic flowers.

[use]

Eichhornia crassipes can be planted in shallow pools or pots, and it is always appropriate to look at flowers and leaves. At the same time, it also has the function of purifying water.

190 1, Eichhornia crassipes was introduced to China as an ornamental plant and popularized as pig feed in 1950s and 1960s. After that, Eichhornia crassipes got out of hand in China.

Eichhornia crassipes is mainly distributed in southern China. Eichhornia crassipes can't survive in the natural state because there is a freezing period in the northern rivers.

[Missing point]

Eichhornia crassipes adopted a brutal blockade strategy on the water surface where it lived, blocking the sunlight, causing the death of underwater plants, destroying the food chain of underwater animals and leading to the death of aquatic animals. At the same time, ships of any size are not allowed to enter and exit freely in the territory of water hyacinth. Not only that, Eichhornia crassipes also has the ability to enrich heavy metals. After Eichhornia crassipes died, the rotting corpse sank to the bottom of the water to form a layer with high content of heavy metals, which directly killed benthos. It's a trinity of extinction tactics!