Potamogeton diversifolius Raf.

Water Thread Pondweed; Common Snailseed Pondweed

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Water Thread Pondweed is a native herbaceous aquatic perennial in the Pondweed family (Potamogetonaceae). It is the most common species in the genus and is found throughout Alabama. Water Thread Pondweed occurs in shallow water of ponds and lakes, in beaver ponds, in sluggish streams, in canals, and in water-filled roadside ditches. It is an aquatic species with rhizomes rooted in the mud of shallow water. Leaves are both submersed and floating or submersed only. Submersed leaves are sessile, spirally arranged, linear in outline, with 3 veins (only one if which is usually noticeable) and entire margins. Floating leaves are petiolate, obovate to elliptic in outline, with 7 to 11 distinct veins and entire margins. Flowers are produced in submersed axillary or emersed terminal spikes. The submersed spikes are globular in outline and about half or less the length of the emersed spikes which are cylindrical in outline. The fruit is a sessile, greenish-brown achene. The achene is winged and has a beak. Water Thread Pondweed provides an important food and cover source for many species of fish, invertebrates, and waterfowl. The fruit make up over 11% of the diet of many species of ducks. The submersed stems provide cover and grazing sites for fish and invertebrates.—A. Diamond.

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Native OBL (NWPL)

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