Flat Stem Pondweed
Other Common Names:
(Potamogeton zosteriformis, Potamogeton compressus)
Native
Flat stem pondweed has both a flat stem and flat leaves with no floating leaves.
Description
Flat stem pondweed has no floating leaves.
The flat submersed leaves spiral around the stem and are light to dark green with a yellow midvein that has many parallel veins. These veins make the leaf more stiff and rigid than other aquatic plant leaves. Flat stem pondweed leaves have a pointed tip, are four to eight inches long, and less than a quarter inch wide.
Stems are flat and angular looking, growing two to four feet long. The plant looks angular because the branches on the stem can be as thick as the stem itself.
The only part of the plant that breaks through the surface of the water is a flower spike that sticks up one half to one inch or so. There are five to nine whorls of greenish to whitish flowers per spike and a group of tightly packed leaves around it.
Flat stem pondweed thrives in many conditions, which may be due in part to its high antimicrobial properties.
Some ducks feast on flat stem pondweed, as well as a few muskrats, beavers, deer, and moose.
Management Options
Click here for more information on how to control flat stem pondweed.
Location
Flat stem pondweed can be found across the northern half of the United States.
Propagation
rhizomes, winter buds
Management Options
Click here for more information on how to control flat stem pondweed.