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Pickerel-Weed

Pontedaria cordata. Pickerel-weed Family.

Stem.--Stout; usually one-leaved. Leaves.--Arrow or heart-shaped. Flowers.--Blue; fading quickly; with an unpleasant odor; growing in a dense spike. Perianth.--Two-lipped; the upper lip three-lobed and marked with a double greenish-yellow spot, the lower of three spreading divisions. Stamens.--Six; three long and protruding, the three others, which are often imperfect, very short and inserted lower down. Pistil.--One. The pickerel-weed grows in such shallow water as the pickerel seek, or else in moist, wet places along the shores of streams and rivers. We can look for the blue, closely spiked flowers from late July until some time in September. They are often found near the delicate arrow-head.