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Pontederia cordata (Pickeral Weed)

Pontederia cordata (Pickeral Weed)

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Regular price $ 4.27
Regular price Sale price $ 4.27
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$30 minimum per species for seed.

Each species requires a minimum of $30 of seed to proceed with checkout.

Pure Live Seed

Seed is provided in Pure Live Seed (PLS) unless otherwise stated.

Pure Live Seed (PLS) refers to the percentage of a seed lot that consists of the desired species and is viable (capable of germination).   

Here's why PLS is crucial for native seeds:

  • Accurate Planting:
    • PLS helps determine the actual number of viable seeds in a given weight or volume of seed.   
    • This ensures you plant the correct amount of seed to achieve the desired density and success rate.   
  • Cost-Effectiveness:
    • By knowing the PLS, you can avoid overspending on seed that may not germinate.
    • This is especially important for native seeds, which can be more expensive than some cultivated varieties.
  • Weed Control:
    • PLS helps minimize the presence of weed seeds within the seed lot.
    • This reduces competition for resources and ensures the successful establishment of the desired native plants.
  • Ecological Restoration:
    • Using high-quality native seeds with a high PLS is essential for successful ecological restoration projects.
    • It helps to re-establish diverse and resilient plant communities that support local wildlife.

Weight Conversions lbs. to oz.

0.01 pounds = 0.16 ounces

  • 0.1 pounds = 1.6 ounces
  • 0.25 pounds  = 4 ounces
  • 0.5 pounds = 8 ounces
  • 0.75 pounds = 12 ounces
  • 1.00 pounds = 16 ounces

Pickerelweed flowers over an extended summer season in shallow water or wet shoreline soil. Keep its roots wet; a drying border does not match this aquatic plant.

Sun exposure for Pontederia cordata: full to partial sun. Soil conditions: shallow water to wet, mucky soil. Recorded habitats include shallow marshes; Swamps; Bogs; Ponds; Sheltered slow-moving river margins. Reported height: about 1-3 ft.

Growth habit: loose basal clumps with long-running rhizomes; clonal colonies can become large. Allow space for this growth between neighboring plants over several seasons, rather than spacing only for the size of a young plant.

Plant specifications

Key growing facts

Sunlight Full to partial sun
Soil moisture Shallow water to wet, mucky soil
Height About 1-3 ft
Bloom season Summer and early fall
Show / hide ▾Growing & planting details
Growth habit Loose basal clumps with long-running rhizomes; clonal colonies can become large
Root form Long-running rhizomes and coarse fibrous roots
Soil pH Published cultivation guidance lists neutral soil conditions; no optimal numeric interval is established.
Cultivation hardiness zones Zones 3a–10b (general cultivation guidance)
Drought tolerance Emergent aquatic plant that does not tolerate drying out well
Deer browsing White-tailed deer occasionally browse the foliage.
Salt tolerance Low

Plant identification & seed reference

Botanical name Pontederia cordata
Other common names pickerelweed; Pickerelweed; Pickerel Weed
Seed germination USDA lists cold stratification as not required; seed-lot response may vary.
Plant family Pontederiaceae
Seeds per pound — reference estimate 5000

Plant characteristics

One of the most beautiful plants of our local wetlands with it's heart-shaped leaves and deep violet flowers. Quite unique blooms dance in succession from the bottom up over the water in mid-summer.  Pontederia cordata is found typically in shallow emergent wetlands and quiet backwater areas along streams and rivers. It prefers to grow in saturated mucky organic-rich soils that stay inundated or moist all of the year. Given time, this beautiful plant can fill in large areas by spreading though tubers to cover shallow wetlands.

We have read that the seeds can be eaten like nuts and the young leaf-stalks cooked as greens or raw as salad greens.

  • Flower Time June, July, August
Show / hide ▾Plant communities & associatesNo verified list yet

A species-level list has not yet been verified for this listing.

Show / hide ▾Native range & C-value
Wetland indicator — NWPL 2022 Midwest OBL
C-value — Chicago region, Flora 2017 9
Chicago-region native — Flora 2017 Yes
Native range — U.S. states Alabama; Arkansas; Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Mississippi; Missouri; Nebraska; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; Ohio; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Vermont; West Virginia; Wisconsin
County nativity Not yet verified; occurrence records do not establish nativity.
Show / hide ▾Pollinators & wildlife

Caterpillars & other plant-feeding insects

This plant has published caterpillar host records for the butterflies and moths listed below. These are larval feeding relationships, separate from adult nectar visits. The records span a North American literature compilation and do not establish that every insect occurs locally or uses only this plant.

Moths

  • Bellura obliqua — Cattail Border Moth, Cattail Diver
  • Niphograpta albiguttalis — Waterhyacinth Moth (listed as introduced in the source)
Show / hide ▾Frequently asked questions

What are the ideal growing conditions for Pickeral Weed?
Pontederia cordata performs best in full sun to partial sun with wet (standing water / 6-12" deep) conditions. It thrives in authentic regional soil types ranging from sandy loam to well-drained clay loams.

How do I germinate and establish Pickeral Weed from seed?
Seed of Pontederia cordata has a germination code of Code A (no pre-treatment required). Seeds can be sown directly in spring into warm, prepared soil.

Is Pickeral Weed deer and herbivore resistant?
Yes. Native plants adapted to Midwestern habitats naturally produce protective secondary compounds and fibrous textures that make them highly resistant to deer, rabbits, and other grazing herbivores.

When should I expect Pickeral Weed to emerge and bloom?
Established plants break dormancy in spring as soil temperatures warm, developing vigorous foliage before blooming in their seasonal window to provide vital nectar when native pollinators need it most.

Show / hide ▾Sources & ecological notes

Native range & ecological ratings: Flora of the Chicago Region (2017), via Universal FQA; USACE Chicago FQA (2017); Kew WCVP / Plants of the World Online; USACE National Wetland Plant List.

Growing conditions & other references: Illinois Wildflowers, John Hilty; USDA NRCS PLANTS; NC State Extension Plant Toolbox.

Wildlife records: Shropshire & Tallamy: caterpillar hosts (2025).

Native range does not identify the origin of the seed or plants offered. Community and wildlife records apply to the locations and conditions described.

Research notes & credits

USACE/ERDC fqadata — Chicago Region FQA 2017. Herman, B., Sliwinski, R. & Whitaker, S. (2017), Chicago Region FQA Calculator; distributed by USACE/ERDC in fqadata under CC0. Values may differ from Flora of the Chicago Region (2017). CC0 dedication. Retained for comparison; the displayed C-value follows Flora database 80.

Range data: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; 4 June 2026 release, accessed 7 September 2026. © The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. CC BY 3.0; selected and reformatted. Kew cannot warrant the quality or accuracy of these data. This use has no Kew endorsement.

Caterpillar host records: Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025), Lepidoptera of North America, Supplement 1. Contains information from this database made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0). Natural Communities selected species-level records and screened source qualifications. The complete selection and transformation instructions for this page are available below under the same license.

Flora rating attribution: Kenneth Johnson (2018), Flora of the Chicago Region UFQA Database, following Gerould Wilhelm and Laura Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Individual rating facts are presented with original commentary; the calculator’s software license is not treated as a license for the underlying Flora publication.

Caterpillar research records

Plant: Pontederia cordata

Record scope: Host literature synthesis; no county nativity or local insect occurrence inferred.

Shropshire & Tallamy (2025) · Original research dataset · Reuse license: ODbL-1.0

Plant names in the source Source insect record IDs
Pontederia cordata 201796, 208785

How these records were selected

To reproduce this selection, use the “UDELep May 2025” worksheet in the original research dataset.

  1. Match the insect record IDs above to column A (UDLepID). Within each table row, pair every listed insect ID with every listed source plant name.
  2. Use the first two words in column H for the insect’s scientific name, column E for its common name, and column AB for its source category.
  3. Treat the selected pairs as reported caterpillar host records. Keep all other source fields unchanged and outside this selected table. Include no other rows or host pairs.
  4. Group butterflies and skippers together, and the other categories as moths. Retain the source’s exotic-category labels and sort display names by scientific insect name.

Plant Shipping & Care

We want to ensure that our customers get what they want, a native backyard oasis. To do that, we need to follow a few simple guidelines and give you some information and pointers to make sure you get your plants delivered in a healthy state.

As a reminder, you will receive an email to confirm your pickup or shipping window just before the plants are ready. See Order Fulfillment below for seasonal fulfillment windows.

 

Choices to Receive Your Plants & Accessories

  • Retail - We only offer shipping & shipping is calculated at check out*
    • We do not offer retail pick up
  • Wholesale - Delivery is customized based on order size and location
  • Wholesale - Pickup is free

 

Order Fulfilment - When Your Plants or Other Items Will Be Ready

We take orders all year long and seed is shipped all year, but we only provide the plants to you in certain fulfillment windows to ensure healthy plants.

Wholesale Orders

  • Shipped or are Ready For Pick Up As Requested.

 

Retail & Website Orders

  • Seed Typically Ships Out Within One Week Of Order All Year Long
  • Typically, single species flats ship when ready, sometimes as soon as early to mid-April (depends on weather) through early-October.
  • Mixed species kits are batched and shipped as indicated on the product page.
  • If a plant order is placed while outside of the plant fulfillment window your plants will be reserved through your payment, however, the order will not be fulfilled and shipped until the following spring. We don't want to provide you plants when they won't be happy during the cold winter months. 
  • Early in the spring and later in the fall certain species may be dormant or partially dormant with brown leaves, however they will return to grow healthy next growing season.
  • Your order may arrive in several different shipments.
  • If certain plants within an order will not be available until a later date, we may choose to hold the full order until all are ready.  In certain circumstances, we may choose to send them in two separate shipments 
  • Fulfillment is always dependent upon plant availability.  We try our best but sometimes plants do not overwinter well and perish.  If a plant is on back order you will receive an email indicating the estimated shipping date.  If we can not provide the plant we will first notify you and give you an option of substitution or a refund of that individual species.
  • Plants are typically only packaged and shipped on Mondays to ensure they do not sit in the harsh delivery facility for extended periods of time over the weekend. You will receive a confirmation email once your delivery has been shipped and to estimate your delivery date.
  • Apparel & accessories are ready typically within one to two weeks. See product page for holiday shipping.

Where We Ship

 

 

        What to Expect When Receiving Your Delivery

        • Your plants will be packaged with the utmost care
        • We will need to cut back certain plants prior to shipping. This seems counter-intuitive, however, the fewer leaves the less water the plants can lose during shipping, resulting in healthier plants for you. This also enables the plants to fit within the protective packaging and shipped safely.

         

           Shipments

          • Larger plant shipments will look similar to the picture below with a tray of your plants and a cardboard box to protect them during shipping.

           

           

          What to Do With Your Plants After  Receiving Your Delivery

          • Unpack your order IMMEDIATELY
          • Inspect for damage and report any issues immediately to Natives@NaturalCommunities.net
          • Water your plants
          • Install your plants as quickly as possible and water the entire garden area thoroughly
          • If you cannot install your plants immediately
            • Some plants may not be in a container, put them into some kind of a container such as a paper cup with loose soil until installation
            • Make sure each plant is receiving the appropriate amount of light.
            • Continue to water daily each morning and possibly again in the afternoon
            • No additional fertilizer is needed
          How to install native plugs

          Seed Shipping & Care

          There is a minimum order requirement of $30 for each seed species. Seed ships all year and typically ships within a week of an order being placed.

          We have attempted to put together some basic information regarding native seed installation, establishment, and maintenance.  We hope you find it helpful.  If you need further assistance on native seed establishment, please schedule a free consolation call here.

          Consultation Services

          Ecosystem Restoration Considerations

          Native Seed Establishment Best Management Practices

          Native Seed Stratification Best Management Practices

          View full details

          Solving a Site Problem? Get Expert Advice + Get Store Credit

          Whether you're fighting severe erosion, replacing invasive species, designing a pollinator haven, or seeding large acreage, choosing the wrong species wastes time and money. Talk 1-on-1 with a restoration ecologist to map out the exact species, plug counts, or seed mixes for your soil and goals. Book a consultation and get all or a portion credited directly back to your order.

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