A student was fascinated with the beautiful mauve colored flowers of water hyacinth, he asked his teacher to allow him to take a few plants to his village pond, but teacher denied him to do so because:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → It is an invasive weed species.
Water hyacinth was brought into India for its beautiful flowers. It spread so fast that it now clogs our water bodies, using up the oxygen and killing fish.
Option (1) It is a rare species. — Incorrect. It is very common; it spreads too easily.
Option (2) It is an endangered species. — Incorrect. Far from facing extinction, it pushes out native species.
Option (3) It has many poisonous thorns all over its body. — Incorrect. Water hyacinth is a soft floating plant with no thorns.
Option (4) It is an invasive weed species. — Correct. Planting it in the village pond would let it spread and choke the pond.
NCERT Extract:
Loss of Biodiversity – “… (iii) Alien species invasions: When alien species are introduced unintentionally or deliberately for whatever purpose, some of them turn invasive, and cause decline or extinction of indigenous species. The Nile perch introduced into Lake Victoria in east Africa led eventually to the extinction of an ecologically unique assemblage of more than 200 species of cichlid fish in the lake. You must be familiar with the environmental damage caused and threat posed to our native species by invasive weed species like carrot grass (Parthenium), Lantana and water hyacinth (Eicchornia).”