| BRIEF DESCRIPTION An ascending or occasionally creeping, emergent or floating rarely rhizomatous herb with petiole up to 50 cm long with a leaf-blade of up to 20 x 10 cm. Total height vary between 3-50 cm. USES Eaten as a vegetable. Usually the leaves and stems are cooked but the inflorescence can be eaten raw. The plant has medicinal properties. The plant can also be used as an ornamental. GROWING PERIOD Usually annual but may persist for more than one year in permanent water. COMMON NAMES Oval-leaved pondweed, Oval-leaved monochoria, Pickerel weed, Eceng padi, Eceng leutik, Wewehan, Kelayar, Keladi agak, Biga-bigaan, Gabing uwak, Bilagut, Chrach, Khakhait, Ninlabon, Phakhin. FURTHER INF Scientific synonym: Pontederia vaginalis, P. pauciflora, Gomphima vaginalis. Oval-leaved pondweed is native of South Asia, throughout South-East Asia, extending also to China, Japan, Fiji islands and northern Australia. It grows in sweet water swamps, along ditches, in shallow pools, on canal banks, and particularly in flooded rice fields where it is a common weed. It occur at elevations between sea-level and 1500 m. Oval-leaved pondweed is often found in rice fields and rain and temperature requirements have been estimated from the climatic requirements of rice. (pH estimated by the compiler). |
