Pickerel Weed

You may have seen me out in the marshes at the Refuge or along the edge of the Missisquoi  River. I am a very common plant that likes to have my feet wet, so-to-speak. I bloom from spring to summer and have a lovely purple spike of small flowers. I grow to about two to three feet tall and have really large leaves that are lance shaped.

Muskrats love to eat my roots and fish are known to take shelter in the shade of my leaves. Dragonflies and damselflies lay their eggs on my leaves and will crawl up stalks to metamorphose into adults. Waterfowl will feed on the seeds I produce as my flowers fade in August and September.

I am…

PICKEREL WEED! (Pontederia cordata)