Potenderia - South American treasure wildly spreaded around the world by @papi.mati

In the case of plants, I value simplicity. Flowers, trees, and all living creatures have taught me to see beauty in everything that surrounds me. It doesn't matter if it is a unique thing or a common species which can be found almost everywhere. I am participating in the competition organized by @knopka145 for the second time. The first time I was describing ... grass and mosses, the beauty of which is even easier to see in the wastelands of the Atacama Desert. Today I will describe the species of flowers that I saw in nature while traveling through Argentina by bicycle, but which one of your neighbors certainly has in their garden, no matter where you live.

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Potenderia

I'm speaking about "Potenderia", beautiful blue flowers that were originally most abundant in the Amazon rainforest, although their habitat spreads from Canada to Argentina. Over time, thanks to human interference, they spread all over the world and now grow wild in all tropical, subtropical, and warm climates.

Potenderia is an aquatic plant that grows near rivers and lakes and is often planted in home gardens in ponds and artificial lakes. Although by nature it is a perennial plant, often in gardens with a colder climate, like in Poland where I come from, it is treated as a one-year plant because it cannot survive the harsh winter.

Potenderia is valued for its beautiful blue flowers and thick heart-shaped leaves. It is planted in the gardens because of its aesthetic qualities, but it is also used as a biological filter, cleansing the water of all impurities.

Interestingly, apart from its natural habitat, which, as I mentioned, includes both Americas, it does not produce fruit, so in warm countries, it is difficult to reproduce. It must be bought in a garden store every year. Luckily, the price of one plant is quite low. In Poland, it is 8 zlotys, which is currently about 4 STEEM.

I took photos of Podenteria in Argentina, near Mercedes (what3word location). I put up my tent there for a few nights. That deserted campground turned out to be a paradise with lots of animals and plants in the area. When you look at the map, you may think that no road leads to the mentioned place and this is the case on most maps, but in fact, there is a narrow path to that destination. While we were going there, it was blocked several times by cows and bulls, birds were looking at us with curiosity in their eyes and we didn't see even one person.

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Unexpected guest

When I was delighted with Podenteria and when I was taking photos of it, an otter appeared around. It happily was consuming the caught fish. I managed to take a few photos of her, although she quickly realized that she was not alone in the area and, noticing me, quickly moved away.

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All the photos included in this post were made by me.
Thank you for reading,
@papi.mati