Pickerelweed
Pontederia cordata
57
Strong
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 2–4 feet
- Spread
- 1.5–2 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water
Space about 2 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 25 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- Late spring
- Fruiting season
- Summer to fall
Recorded in 67 Florida counties.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 190 animals.
- Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
- Lesser YellowlegsTringa flavipes
- Little GullHydrocoloeus minutus
- Long-billed DowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceus
- Mottled DuckAnas fulvigula
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Northern PintailAnas acuta
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
- Pied-billed GrebePodilymbus podiceps
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
- Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
- Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatus
- Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
- Snail KiteRostrhamus sociabilis
- SoraPorzana carolina
- Surf ScoterMelanitta perspicillata
- Virginia RailRallus limicola
- White-tailed KiteElanus leucurus
- White-throated SparrowZonotrichia albicollis
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Pontederia
- Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
- Bellura densaPickerel Weed Border Moth, Pickerelweed Diver
- Bellura gortynoidesWhite-Tailed Diver
- Bellura obliquaCattail Border Moth, Cattail Diver
- Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
29BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Pontederia
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Pontederia
- Dufourea novaeangliae
- Melissodes apicatus
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Pontederiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–10b
- Soil pH
- Neutral
- Flower color
- Blue or purple
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Grows in clumps
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Fall
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Flower color · “Blue or purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Grows in clumps” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “2–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Minnesota Wildflowers differ)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain differ)
- Soil · “Frequent standing water; Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain differ)
- Soil pH · “Neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “1.5–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Pickerel Weed
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Growing cautions
- Spreads aggressively. Spreads rapidly by both seed and rhizomes. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications