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Feature Article
Water body infested with
water hyacinth (Photo by
Dipanjan Ghosh)
WATER HYACINTH
Befriending the Noxious Weed
DIPANJAN GHOSH
It is high time we befriended the noxious water hyacinth rather than
keeping it away.
I
T is blacklisted as a notorious
aquatic weed in India and other
tropical countries, and often
designated as ‘Bengal terror’, ‘blue
devil’, ‘invasive weed’, ‘noxious plant’,
‘plant pest’, ‘prohibited aquatic weed’
and so on. The target of such abusive
nicknames, water hyacinth, is a
dreaded waterweed often blamed for
choking water bodies and creating
problems for other aquatic plants and
animal inhabitants. However, lately its
role in environmental cleaning is being
truly recognized.
Water hyacinth or Eichhornia
crassipes (Mart) Solms, belongs to the
family Pontederiaceac. The genus
‘Eichhornia’ was named after J.A. Fr
Eichhorn (1779-1856), a Prussian
Minister of Education while the species
‘crassipes’ means ‘thick foot’ in Latin.
This monocotyledonous floating herb
completes its life cycle within one year
in seasonal water bodies although it is
a perennial under favourable
conditions. Water hyacinth is found
mainly in freshwater bodies ranging
from small ponds and ditches to large
lakes and rivers. The plant even pesters
rice fields.
Water hyacinth forms a sprawling
expanse of green embellished with lilac
to violet flowers on the water bodies.
Its well-developed submerged fibrous
roots are devoid of root caps. But root
pockets, like loose thimbles, keep the
root apex covered. A rather striking
presence of blue anthocyanin pigment
46
in the root tips of Eichhornia is also
noticed. Stoloniferous stem is short,
unbranched and with swollen
internodes enveloped by sheathing leaf
bases. The leaves are simple, large,
broadly ovate or cuneate, deep green,
coriaceous and with spongy inflated
petiole; the leaf blade is smooth and
glossy due to a waxy surface.
Eichhornia flowers generally in
August–September in the tropics. As
this plant is sensitive to cold and is
unable to survive below 6.5 0 C,
flowering also seems to be influenced
by temperature. Flowers are bisexual,
slightly irregular, with six-lobed
perianth united below into a tube and
free above. The upper most tepal is
with yellow, blue-bordered central
splotch. Male sex organ comprises
three long and three short stamens. The
female sex organ, on the other hand,
comprises three carpels in united
condition. After the flowering is over
the inflorescence bends down and the
fruits develop under the water. The
fruit is a three-celled capsule
containing many minute, ribbed seeds.
Water hyacinth is a very charming
flowering plant, aptly called
Water hyacinth is an
unstoppable plant
colonizer that cannot be
eradicated completely.
SCIENCE REPORTER, December 2010
‘Cinderella of the plant kingdom’.
Brazil is considered to be the native
land of this plant. Attracted by its
beautiful flowers, water hyacinth later
became naturalized by man in many
warm areas of the world like Central
and North America, Africa, Asia,
Australia and New Zealand. It is
believed to have been introduced in
India during 1890 by the British
colonials.
With increasing popularity of
water gardening and home ponds,
water hyacinth is now sold by many
western nurseries for its unusual
appearance, attractive flowers and
Spike of water
hyacinth flower
– ‘Cinderella of
the plant
kingdom’ (Photo
by Dipanjan
Ghosh)
Feature Article
Spongy petioles help
water hyacinth to
float
(Photo by Dipanjan
Ghosh)
ability to remove nutrients from the
water. However, escape from captivity
is a very common feature of this
invasive weed. Further more, the
magical ability of propagation has
enabled it to conquer huge expanses of
water bodies throughout the tropics
every year.
Unpleasant Activity
Water hyacinth is called the worst
aquatic plant in the world. It imposes
both physical and ecological problems
and has economic impact also. Its mats
clog waterways making boating,
fishing and almost all other water
activities impossible. The risk of flood
increases when drainage is impaired.
The choked water bodies increase the
possibility of water borne diseases and
become breeding grounds especially
for mosquitoes, which spread malaria
and encephalitis.
Eichhornia infestation also
prevents sunlight and oxygen from
getting into the water. As a result
fishes and other aquatic animals perish
when water bodies are choked with this
weed. The phytoplanktons or surface
dwellers also die due to dearth of light.
Water hyacinth alters immersed plant
communities by pushing away and
crushing them (an acre of this weed can
weigh more than 200 tons) and/or
eliminating native plants the animals
depend on for shelter and nesting.
Water
hyacinth
can also
provide a
cheap yet
effective
way of
removing
arsenic
from
drinking
water.
Multifarious root system of water hyacinth
(Photo by Dipanjan Ghosh)
Moreover, the huge quantity of
Eichhornia with trapped silt and dust
make the water bodies shallow, even
forming small islands where reeds and
even woody plants invade.
Water hyacinth has a distressing
impact on agriculture, particularly on
rice cultivation.
Farmers face
enormous problems in rainy season,
when irrigation water flushes in tonnes
of water hyacinth into the field.
Luxuriant growth of water hyacinth
also hampers hydroelectric power
generation. Bird sanctuaries and
wetlands infested with Eichhornia face
serious problem as birds avoid these
silted up water bodies affecting the
tourism business as well as causing
ecological imbalance.
The entire Eichhornia plant is
highly adapted to an aquatic mode of
life. Some adaptive features and their
impacts are discussed below:
a) Numerous fibrous roots with a
small pocket at the tip are a special
adaptation to balance in the water and
also to absorb maximum nutrients.
Such an efficient root system has made
Eichhornia
a
broad-spectrum
mitigator, showing tolerance as well
as accumulation of a large number of
metals together.
b) The
petioles
become
characteristically swollen and develop
spongyness, which provides buoyancy
to the plant. Smooth, shining and
frequently wax-coated leaves of water
hyacinth protect from chemical and
physical injuries and also prevent the
water clogging of stomata. Perhaps for
this, water hyacinth is usually seen
unharmed in water bodies filled with
toxic substances.
c) The prolific growth of Eichhornia
is very much dependent on its
vegetative reproduction, which mainly
occurs either by stolon production or
by budding. Sexual reproduction
occurs rarely through seeds.
d) The flowers remain open only for a
day and wither away even if
pollination has not taken place.
Moreover, the flowers are mostly selfpollinated. Hence, neither a partner
plant nor any pollinating agent is
essential for completing the life cycle.
e) Eichhornia is a very potent
hydrophyte, showing resistance to
diseases and a large number of pests.
Such adaptability has empowered
water hyacinth to occupy any type of
fresh water habitats throughout the
world.
Any Benefits?
The ever-increasing population of
Eichhornia as well as its impact on the
society has made it indubitably one of
the most annoying weeds of the tropics.
It costs much energy and money in
controlling water hyacinth. Today
humans are making every effort, even
using remote sensing to survey and
monitor this weed, ultimately
realizing that the copious growth of
Eichhornia can be restricted only
through its utilization in various
aspects.
The water hyacinth may be a
promising possibility for solving
needs of animal feed. It contains most
SCIENCE REPORTER, December 2010
47
Feature Article
Removing the invasive
water hyacinth
of the essential nutrients for animal
growth but making a palatable feed
from them is not easy because of the
high moisture. However, the plants
can be converted into silage by placing
chopped plants in a closed container
and allowing them to undergo
microbial fermentation for about a
month. Such silage has been shown to
be highly palatable to sheep and other
animals. Chinese cultivate the water
hyacinth in fish ponds as pig fodder.
Water hyacinth is also used as a
carotene-rich table vegetable in
Formosa. Javanese sometimes cook
and eat the green parts (young leaves
and petioles) and the inflorescence. It
is rich in proteins, containing
important amino acids like cystine,
Water hyacinth is a big problem
48
Water hyacinth is found
mainly in freshwater
bodies ranging from
small ponds and ditches
to large lakes and rivers.
The plant even pesters
rice fields.
It is believed to stop the
spread of infection.
Fresh juice of water
hyacinth is also used as
a styptic.
phenylalanine, tyrosine, threonine,
lysine, leucine, isoleucine and with
valine and methionine in traces.
However, the plant is virtually
tasteless and eating the plant, which is
reported to contain hydrogen cyanide,
alkaloid and triterpenoid, may induce
itching. Also fresh plant contains
prickly crystals.
Cellulose
is
a
complex
carbohydrate consisting of 3,000 or
more glucose units. Water hyacinth is
rich in cellulose content that can be used
as a renewable source of energy and
for production of paper.
Biogas or methane production
from the microbial anaerobic
decomposition of water hyacinth has
been investigated.
It has been
calculated that one hectare of water
hyacinth can produce enough biomass
each day to generate between 90 and
180 mt of methane gas and at the same
time 0.5 tonne of residue as fertilizer.
Eichhornia can also be used for
production of power alcohol.
Water hyacinth also contains
cellulase, an industrially important
enzyme, in amounts sufficient for
commercial exploitation. The enzyme
serves various industrial purposes like
breaking down of insoluble material of
fruit pulp, improving the quality of
cotton textiles and increasing the tensile
strength of paper pulp. The animal feed
industry uses cellulase to convert fibres
present in waste sludge into sugars and
improve the efficiency of anaerobic
water treatment processes. The process
of manufacture of cellulase from water
hyacinth comprises drying of plants,
crushing, inoculating with a spore
SCIENCE REPORTER, December 2010
suspension of the fungus Trichoderma
reesei, incubation, extraction of enzyme,
its purification and spray drying. The
residue left after fermentation is utilized
as a soil fertilizer.
The fibrous root system of water
hyacinth provides nesting habitat for
invertebrates and insects. Leaf blades
and petiole are occasionally used by
coots. Even watercourses pervaded
with water hyacinth are the breeding
grounds for various snakes.
The plant is also good for
mulching and effective in conserving
soil moisture. Wilted water hyacinth,
mixed with earth, cow dung and wood
ashes in the Chinese compost fashion
can yield useful compost in just two
months.
There is no known medicinal value
of water hyacinth in the world.
However, in certain states of India,
tribals use water hyacinth as a remedy
against goiter disease. It is believed to
stop the spread of infection. Fresh juice
of water hyacinth is also used as a
styptic. It is one of the best first-aid
remedies for minute injuries.
However, all these medicinal
properties of water hyacinth are not
clinically tested though such
ethnomedicinal uses may one day be
considered as promising.
Perhaps the most striking feature
of water hyacinth is its ability to absorb
various pollutants and toxic metals
released into the surrounding water
bodies. Presently, this plant is used
for removal of many heavy metals like
cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and
nickel and some other materials such
as excess nitrogen, organic carbon, etc.,
perturbing the aquatic environment.
Besides, water hyacinth can also
provide a cheap yet effective way of
removing arsenic from drinking water.
A powder is made from the dried roots
of water hyacinth, which removes
nearly all the arsenic from water
sample. It is reported that within one
hour of adding the powder to the water,
the arsenic level dropped from 200 ppb
(parts per billion) to below the WHO’s
safety limit of 10 ppb.
Water hyacinth is an unstoppable
plant colonizer that cannot be
eradicated completely. We can only
minimize its population by utilizing
it for our benefit.
Mr Dipanjan Ghosh, Chotonilpur Pirtala, P.O. & Dist
Burdwan-713103, West Bengal