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• Aquatic plants
• Water plants with leaves and stems
• Potamogeton crispus

Potamogeton crispus — curly pondweed

Facts

Curly pondweed is a noxious invasive weed, banned in most New England states. It entered North America in the 1880s through the aquarium trade. Its extreme invasiveness may be due to its tolerance of low light conditions. It can form dense mats, and mass die-offs can contribute to algal blooms and anoxic conditions.

Habitat

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

Characteristics

• Clonal plantlets

  Turion length

  15–30 mm

• Flowers

  Anther length

  0.7–1.3 mm

  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

  6–20

  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

  10–15 mm

  Inflorescence type

  the inflorescence is a spike (a long unbranched stem with flowers along it that lack stalks)

  Length of flower stalk

  At least 0 mm

  Length of peduncle

  25–40 mm

  Nectar spur

  the flower has no nectar spurs

  Number of carpels

  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

  • brown
  • 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

  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 to petals

  the stamens are fused near the bases of the petals or tepals

  Style number

  4

• Fruits or seeds

  Fruit beak length

  2–3 mm

  Fruit length

  6 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

  2.5 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

  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
  • whorled: there are three or more leaves per node along the stem

  Leaf blade length

  12–90 mm

  Leaf blade veins

  the lateral veins radiate from the base and continue to spread away from the centerline of the leaf, or branch off the central vein at intervals

  Leaf blade width

  40–100 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 has three or more lobes distributed along a central axis
  • 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 do not forma closed tube around the stem

  Trap-bladder length

  0 mm

  Underwater leaf air passage number

  At least 1440

  Underwater leaf air passage relative width

  At least 1441

  Underwater leaf air passage row number

  2–5

  Underwater leaf blade edges

  • the underwater leaf blade edges are toothed
  • the underwater leaf blades are lobed

  Underwater leaf blade shape

  the underwater leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)

  Underwater leaf blade veins

  3–5

  Underwater leaf blade width

  40–100 mm

  Underwater leaf length

  12–90 mm

  Underwater leaf stalk

  no

  Underwater leaf stalk length

  0 mm

  Underwater leaf tip shape

  the tip of the underwater leaf is rounded, with no point

  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

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae