Family: Pontederiaceae

An invasive herbaceous plant. Native to the Neotropics, water hyacinth was introduced to Hawaiʻi by E.W. Jordan in the latter part of the 1800s. Populations are established on Kauaʻi, Oahu, Maui, and Hawaiʻi. DO NOT introduce this plant to slow-moving or stagnant waterways. The Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources has designated this species as one of Hawaiʻi’s Most Invasive Horticultural Plants. It is considered one of the worst aquatic weeds in the world.

Description and Dispersal:

• A floating herbaceous plant
  
• Round,leathery,shiny leaves
  
• Dark roots
  
• Fleshy stems with spongy/starchy stalks
  
• 1 inch to 3 feet in height
  
• Showy purple (sometimes white) flowers with 6 petals
  
• Fruit is a three celled capsule containing many minute seeds
  
• Reproduces vegetatively from fragments
  
• Seeds are water,wind, bird and human dispersed