- You are here:
- Dichotomous Key
- Potamogetonaceae
- Potamogeton
- Potamogeton berchtoldii
Potamogeton berchtoldii — Berchtold's 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
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.
Facts
Berchtold's pondweed was named for Friedrich von Berchtold (1781-1876), a czech physician and botanist who, with another botanist, authored an important vascular plant text.
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
- the leaves are all submerged underwater
- Leaf arrangement
- alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Leaf blade length
- 9–54 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
- NA
- Underwater leaf blade width
- 0.2–2.5 mm
- Fruit type (general)
-
- the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe
- the fruit is fleshy
- Underwater leaf length
- 9–54 mm
-
Clonal plantlets
- Turion length
- 9–32 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 position
-
- the flowers are above the surface of the water
- the flowers are below 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
- 1.5–10.1 mm
- Inflorescence type
- the inflorescence is a spike (a long unbranched stem with flowers along it that lack stalks)
- Length of flower stalk
- 0 mm
- Length of peduncle
- 5–45 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
- 0.1–0.6 mm
- Fruit length
- 1.5–2.2 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
- 1.2–1.6 mm
-
Glands or sap
- Oil glands on nodes
- at least some of the nodes have pairs of 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
- the plant has turions
- Underground organs
- there are only slender roots on the plant
-
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
- NA
- Floating leaf blade width
- 0 mm
- Floating leaf length
- 0 mm
- Floating leaf shape
- NA
- Floating leaf tip
- NA
- Floral bract form
- NA
- Floral bract length
- 0 mm
- Leaf arrangement
- alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Leaf blade length
- 9–54 mm
- Leaf blade veins
- the lateral veins are parallel or slightly arched in the direction of the tip
- Leaf blade width
- 0.2–2.5 mm
- Leaf position
- 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 delicate and translucent
- 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 1440
- Underwater leaf air passage row number
- 1–5
- Underwater leaf blade edges
- the underwater leaf has smooth edges, without teeth
- Underwater leaf blade shape
- the underwater leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)
- Underwater leaf blade veins
- 1–5
- Underwater leaf blade width
- 0.2–2.5 mm
- Underwater leaf length
- 9–54 mm
- Underwater leaf stalk
- no
- Underwater leaf stalk length
- 0 mm
- Underwater leaf tip shape
-
- the tip of the underwater leaf is acute (sharply pointed)
- the tip of the underwater leaf is obtuse (bluntly pointed)
- Veins in floating leaf
- 0
-
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
None
Native to North America?
Yes
Sometimes confused with
- Potamogeton obtusifolius:
- leaves 1-3.5 mm wide, rounded to obtusely pointed at the apex, and usually suffused with red (vs. P. berchtoldii, with leaves 0.2-2.5 mm wide, acutely to obtusely pointed at the apex, and green).
Synonyms
- Potamogeton pusillus ssp. tenuissimus (Mert. & Koch) Haynes & Hellquist
- Potamogeton pusillus var. mucronatus (Fieber) Graebn.
- Potamogeton pusillus var. tenuissimus Mert. & Koch
Family
Genus
From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae
3. Potamogeton berchtoldii Fieber N
Berchtold’s pondweed. Potamogeton pusillus L. var. mucronatus (Fieber) Graebn.; P. pusillus L. ssp. tenuissimus (Mert. & Koch) Haynes & Hellquist; P. pusillus L. var. tenuissimus Mert. & Koch • CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT; throughout. Shallow, still or slow-moving, acidic to basic water of lakes and rivers.
3×19. Potamogeton berchtoldii × Potamogeton perfoliatus → Potamogeton ×mysticus Morong is a rare pondweed hybrid known from MA, ME, VT. It generally resembles P. gramineus, but the submersed blades vary from sessile to weakly clasping.