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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE PONDWEED FAMILY | |||||||||
| The pondweeds grow in the water. Most species have submersed and floating leaves. The leaves are alternately arranged on the stem and have membranous stipules. The inflorescences are spike-like with the flowers in whorls. Each flower has four greenish tepals and four stamens. The fruit can be fleshy or dry. | |||||||||
| BLUNTLEAF PONDWEED | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Potamogeton obtusifolius | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Bluntleaf pondweed grows as long as 90 cm. The roots are fibrous and rhizomes are absent. The stem is branched and slender. There are yellow-green or gold glands where the leaves meet the stems. The leaves are all underwater and are limp. The leaves are light green to reddish and have one to three rows of ladder-like cells on either side of the midrib. The flowers are in a stalked spike. The flowers are small and greenish. The fruits are olive-green to brown in colour. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Bluntleaf pondweed grows in shallow water of protected lake bays, ponds, and quiet streams. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in a wide range Saskatchewan in the Moist Mixed Grassland, Boreal Transition, Mid-Boreal Upland, Mid-Boreal Lowland, Churchill River Upland, and Tazin Lake Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Potamogeton obtusifolius is threatened because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan. No threats are known or anticipated for this species. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY LARGELEAF PONDWEED | |||||||||
| * Are the leaves all underwater? * Are there yellowish glands where the leaves meet the stem? * Are the flowers greenish and in spikes? * Did you find in a water body in Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found bluntleaf pondweed! |
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