Your help is appreciated. We depend on donations to help keep this site free and up to date for you. Can you please help us?

Donate

Native Plant Trust: Go Botany Discover thousands of New England plants

Potamogeton amplifolius — big-leaved pondweed

Copyright: various copyright holders. To reuse an image, please click it to see who you will need to contact.

New England distribution

Adapted from BONAP data

Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.

North America distribution

Adapted from BONAP data

enlarge

Facts

Big-leaved pondweed is common through much of North America. Its leaves are larger and have more veins than any other pondweed (Potamogeton) species, and it often grows in somewhat deeper water. This species has been used successfully in restoration projects, growing 10-fold in the first season.

Habitat

Lacustrine (in lakes or ponds), riverine (in rivers or streams)

Characteristics

Habitat
aquatic
New England state
  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
Leaf position
  • some of the leaves are floating at the surface of the water
  • the leaves are all submerged underwater
Leaf arrangement
alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
Leaf blade length
43–125 mm
Petal or sepal number
there are four petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower
Petal color
green
Specific leaf type
the leaf is not divided, rather the blade is made up of one segment
Floating leaf shape
  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
Underwater leaf blade width
15–58 mm
Fruit type (general)
  • the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe
  • the fruit is fleshy
Underwater leaf length
50–125 mm
Show all characteristics

  • Clonal plantlets

    Turion length
    0 mm

  • Flowers

    Anther color
    there is a noticeable pink, reddish or purplish tint to the anthers
    Carpels fused
    the carpel is solitary or (if 2 or more) the carpels are not fused to one another
    Flower lower lip length
    0 mm
    Flower number
    9–16
    Flower position
    the flowers are above the surface of the water
    Flower symmetry
    there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)
    Inflorescence length
    135–65 mm
    Inflorescence type
    the inflorescence is a spike (a long unbranched stem with flowers along it that lack stalks)
    Inflorescence width
    10–15 mm
    Length of flower stalk
    0 mm
    Length of peduncle
    45–223 mm
    Nectar spur
    the flower has no nectar spurs
    Number of carpels
    1–4
    Ovary position
    the sepals and/or petals are attached below the ovary
    Palate on corolla
    no
    Petal and sepal arrangement
    the flower includes only one cycle of petals or sepals
    Petal appearance
    the petals are green and/or leafy in texture
    Petal color
    green
    Petal fringed edges
    the petals are not fringed
    Petal fusion
    the perianth parts are separate
    Petal hairs on inner/upper surface
    there are no hairs on the inner/upper petal surface
    Petal number
    4
    Petal or sepal number
    there are four petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower
    Pistil number
    • 1
    • 4
    Sepal appearance
    NA
    Sepal length
    0 mm
    Sepal number
    0
    Sepals fused only to sepals
    NA
    Spur length
    0 mm
    Stamen number
    4
    Stamen position relative to petals
    NA
    Stamens fused
    the stamens are not fused to one another
    Stamens fused to petals
    the stamens are fused near the bases of the petals or tepals
    Style number
    0–4

  • Fruits or seeds

    Fruit beak length
    0.5–0.8 mm
    Fruit length
    5–6.7 mm
    Fruit type (general)
    • the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe
    • the fruit is fleshy
    Fruit type (specific)
    • the fruit is a drupe (fleshy, with a firm inner ovary wall that encloses a single seed)
    • the fruit is an achene (dry, usually 1-seeded, does not separate or split open at maturity)
    Fruit width
    4.5–5.2 mm

  • Glands or sap

    Oil glands on nodes
    none of the nodes have oil glands
    Sap
    the sap is clear and watery

  • Growth form

    Lifespan
    the plant lives more than two years
    Root septa
    the roots do not have transverse septa
    Roots floating in water
    there are no clusters of roots floating in the water
    Turions
    there are no turions on the plant
    Underground organs
    the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

  • Leaves

    Bract position (Sparganium)
    NA
    Bract relative length
    At least 3854 mm
    Bracts
    neither the flowers nor their pedicels have bracts
    Floating leaf basal lobes
    • no
    • yes
    Floating leaf blade width
    25–38 mm
    Floating leaf length
    43–92 mm
    Floating leaf shape
    • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
    • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
    Floating leaf tip
    • the tip of the floating leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
    • the tip of the floating leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)
    Floral bract form
    NA
    Floral bract length
    0 mm
    Leaf arrangement
    alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
    Leaf blade length
    43–125 mm
    Leaf blade veins
    the lateral veins are parallel or slightly arched in the direction of the tip
    Leaf blade width
    15–58 mm
    Leaf position
    • some of the leaves are floating at the surface of the water
    • the leaves are all submerged underwater
    Leaf special features
    none of the mentioned special features are present
    Leaf-like branch segments
    0
    Leaf-like branch shape
    NA
    Specific leaf type
    the leaf is not divided, rather the blade is made up of one segment
    Staminate bract edge (Myriophyllum)
    NA
    Stipule appearance
    the stipules are firm or fibrous, and colored white, green or brown
    Stipule fused to leaf
    the stipules are not attached to the leaf blade at all
    Stipules
    the plant has stipules
    Stipules fused around stem
    the stipules form a completely closed tube around the stem
    Trap-bladder length
    0 mm
    Underwater leaf air passage number
    At least 1439
    Underwater leaf air passage relative width
    At least 4336
    Underwater leaf air passage row number
    0
    Underwater leaf blade edges
    the underwater leaf has smooth edges, without teeth
    Underwater leaf blade shape
    • the underwater leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
    • the underwater leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
    • the underwater leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the underwater leaf blade)
    • the underwater leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)
    Underwater leaf blade veins
    19–49
    Underwater leaf blade width
    15–58 mm
    Underwater leaf length
    50–125 mm
    Underwater leaf stalk
    yes
    Underwater leaf stalk length
    9–115 mm
    Underwater leaf tip shape
    • the tip of the underwater leaf is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
    • the tip of the underwater leaf is acute (sharply pointed)
    Veins in floating leaf
    27–49

  • Place

    Habitat
    aquatic
    New England state
    • Connecticut
    • Maine
    • Massachusetts
    • New Hampshire
    • Rhode Island
    • Vermont
    Specific habitat
    • in lakes or ponds
    • in rivers or streams

  • Stem, shoot, branch

    Flowering stem growth form
    the flowering stem is upright

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

Distribution

Connecticut
present
Maine
present
Massachusetts
present
New Hampshire
present
Rhode Island
present
Vermont
present

Conservation status

Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.

Massachusetts
unranked (S-rank: SNR)

Native to North America?

Yes

Family

Potamogetonaceae

Genus

Potamogeton

Help

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae

2.  Potamogeton amplifolius Tuckerman N

big-leaved pondweed. CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT. Shallow, still or slow-moving, slightly acidic to basic water of lakes and rivers, often in relatively deep water relative to some other congenerics.

2×11. Potamogeton amplifolius × Potamogeton gramineus → This very rare pondweed hybrid is known from CT. It has sessile submersed leaves that are weakly arched and have 9–11 veins. Further, they are narrower than generally observed in Potamogeton amplifolius. The stems are unspotted.

2×13. Potamogeton amplifolius × Potamogeton illinoensis → Potamogeton ×‌scoliophyllus Hagstr. is a rare pondweed hybrid known from CT, MA, VT. It generally resembles P. amplifolius, but the submersed leaves are weakly arched, have mostly 13–15 veins (rather than 19–49), and are relatively elongate and narrow for that species. The floating leaf blades are broad-cuneate at the base (rather than rounded to cordate), and the stems are unspotted (rather than often spotted with red-brown).

2×20. Potamogeton amplifolius × Potamogeton praelongus → This rare pondweed hybrid known from ME, VT. It has leaf blades that are weakly arched, sessile to somewhat clasping, and with mostly 15–21 veins. The tips of the leaf blades split in pressing (as in Potamogeton praelongus). The stems have dark blotches.

2×21. Potamogeton amplifolius × Potamogeton pulcher → This rare pondweed hybrid is known from NH. It has smaller (though still somewhat arched) submersed blades than P. amplifolius (mostly 31–57 mm long, rather than 50–125 mm long), and there is some black spotting on the stems.