A genus of aquatic plants, including water hyacinth, with floating leaves and showy purple or blue flowers native to South America.
Named after Johann Albert Friedrich Eichhorn, an 18th-century Prussian botanist, following Linnaean naming conventions where plant genera honor notable botanists and naturalists.
Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is one of the world's worst invasive species—a single plant can multiply into millions in tropical waterways, clogging waterways and destroying ecosystems, yet ironically it's also used for water purification in some places.
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