Found in shallow water from July to September.

The height is variable, from 4 to 6 inches or more. The stalk is stout, round, smooth, and green; it grows with sharp-angled turns below the water.

The leaf is large and arrow-shaped, with a blunt tip; the margin is entire, the fibre tough and leathery, the surface extremely smooth, and the color a dark strong green. The stem is round, large, and sheathes the stalk.

The irregularly 4-parted flower has a short tube; the upper division is erect, broad, and 3-lobed; the 3 lower divisions are long, narrow, and spreading; it has 6 stamens. In color it is a dull bluish violet, the broad division marked with two round greenish-yellow spots. The flowers grow in a thick blunt spike, and bloom spirally; the stem is enfolded about midway by a small sheathing, green leaf.

The flowers are fleeting with the day. In general lines the Pickerel-weed is full of vigor, and strong swinging curves, but there is a primitive lack of finish in its growth.