Water plant pondweed. Rdest (plant) - description, useful properties, application

Rdest. Perennial aquatic plant. In the ground, it develops a long rhizome. It overwinters, and in the spring, elongated shoots grow from wintering buds. Separate shoots or parts of them can come off and float freely in the water, continuing their development.

Aquatic mollusks, insects, and fish feed on pondweed. In thickets of pondweeds, many fish spawn. Dead shoots fall to the bottom. As they decompose, they turn into fertile sludge.

Ponds are distinguished by an exceptional variety of leaf patterns - from oval to ribbon-shaped. At the base of the leaf, transparent membranous stipules stick out or fused with the petiole.

The plant blooms in the air, exposing spike-shaped marsh-colored inflorescences above the water in July-August. Many species are hidden under the water surface of reservoirs.

The pond is floating. It is the most prominent type of plant due to its floating leaves. The leaves are shiny, like varnished, floating on the surface, oval in shape. Underwater leaves are not preserved by the time of flowering. When the reservoir dries up, it continues to live in a terrestrial form with leathery, heart-shaped leaves on petioles. A typical plant of lakes, ponds, rivers. Prefers slow flowing water. It has a greenish spike-shaped inflorescence, towering above the water; blooms in June-August.

All pondweeds grow well in fertile, organic-rich soil. The preferred depth of immersion is different: if pondweeds with floating leaves can grow in very shallow water, then submerged ones need at least 20-30 cm to settle down “comfortably”. Almost everyone can live in both still and slowly moving water, but the comb pondweed grows well in fast water streams. The cuttings are planted in a container with fertile soil or drowned with a load at a suitable depth of a natural reservoir. Grows in both sun and partial shade.

They limit the spread, but it is almost impossible to destroy the accustomed pondweed. Ponds overwinter at the bottom of water bodies and do not need shelter or other measures for winter storage.

Propagated by cuttings in spring and summer, segments of rhizomes, as well as seeds. Seeds are collected at the end of August, when they separate from the plant and float on the surface of the water. Seeds are rolled into lumps of clay and dipped in right places into a pond on silty soil to a depth of 40-90 cm (in comb and brilliant pondweeds - to a depth of 1.5 m).

use different types pondweed for different reservoirs depending on the size.

Pond is valued mainly because of its leaves, which look beautiful both in the water column and on its surface. Graceful spike-shaped inflorescences also give the plant an original look. In addition, the pond actively enriches the water with oxygen, is a refuge for various aquatic animals and fish, as well as an excellent food for waterfowl. Can grow in both large and small ponds. It blends well with most aquatic and coastal plants.

AT natural conditions pond floating, or as it is also called - floating tolga, grows in reservoirs in the European part of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine. The plant can be found in rivers and swampy ponds. Western Europe, Scandinavia, Balkan Peninsula, North America, Central Asia, North Africa, China and Japan.

Floating pondweed is a perennial plant with a tuberous rhizome and round or ovoid leaves, located on small-branched stems, the length of which can reach 1.5 m. The main part of the plant's leaves float on the surface of the water. The leaves are relatively large, up to 12 cm long and about 3-5 cm wide. The top of the leaf is shiny, as if varnished.

Pond is a floating habitue of virtually all reservoirs. During a drought, when the reservoir dries up, the plant, as if nothing had happened, continues to grow out of the water. In acceptable conditions, the plant can bloom from July to August, releasing an emersed spike-shaped inflorescence, up to 10 cm high, with inconspicuous greenish flowers, which are pollinated in the wind. During the flowering of the plant, all its underwater leaves disappear. Floating pondweed prefers flowing water, which explains why it is more common in rivers than in stagnant water bodies. In some bodies of water, the plant grows so large that it forms a dense carpet of leaves, which in some cases interferes with navigation.

I would like to say right away that the plant is rarely found in amateur aquariums and this is due primarily to the fact that it is unattractive. All the decorativeness of this species appears when you look at it from above, which is not always possible due to the aquarium cover. Nevertheless, the plant can be successfully used, for example, in spawning aquariums, where it can serve as an excellent substrate for the spawning of many species of fish. The plant also enriches the water with oxygen well.

Water parameters must meet the following conditions: temperature 23-30°C, hardness dH 7-15°, acidity pH 7.0-8.0.

The soil should be silty, with a high content of clay.

The floating pondweed is propagated by seeds and vegetatively, by cuttings. AT winter period the plant disappears, forming winter buds, which, with the onset of spring, give life to a new plant.

Spacious thickets of pondweed can be found in slow-flowing brackish and fresh lakes around the world. This aquatic perennial plant is characterized by alternate leaves of the most different shapes and size. They can float on water or be submerged.

The roots are long, and individual parts can separate, float freely on the surface and gradually become independent developed specimens.

Flowering of pondweed takes place in summer, when the plant lets out spike-shaped inflorescences with small flowers of marsh, and sometimes pink shades.

On the whole, pondweed does not have a high decorative value, but its significance for the people is invaluable. This plant is an excellent food for the inhabitants of the reservoir, after dying it forms fertile silt, and most importantly, it enriches the water with oxygen, helping the lush development of the aquatic ecosystem.

In addition, he gets along well with the majority, offering a mutually beneficial neighborhood.

Variety of species

Ponds are represented by eight genera and hundreds of species. Although the planting of this crop is often dictated by practical rather than aesthetic motives, among this many varieties, you can choose the one that best adapts to the created conditions and fits into the design of the pond.

Among the floating representatives of the flora, alpine pondweed with long filamentous reddish leaves and grassy - with underwater leaves that die off at a considerable depth, and become leathery on land, are distinguished. The most common pondweed is floating (photo 1), living mainly in water with a weak current and continuing to live, even if the reservoir dries up for a while.

Among the varieties with submerged leaves, one can note the comb-like species growing in shallow water with strongly branched stems and narrow leaves, curly with corrugated serrated leaves (photo 2), a strongly branched pierced-leaved species, as well as Gaia pondweed, shiny, flattened and many others.

Growing features

Pod often develops well in the sun and in partial shade, in stagnant or slow-flowing water, although some priorities may be dictated by species characteristics. The recommended immersion depth may also be different: floating plants for a pond can develop in very shallow water, and submerged plants may need up to one and a half meters. The best soil will become fertile silt for this culture.

In care, these plants-oxygenerators are not at all capricious. They can winter at the very bottom of the reservoir and do not require shelter. But it is advisable not to forget that absolute unpretentiousness can play a cruel joke with connoisseurs of neat garden ponds. If you do not limit its distribution, pondweed can grow so large in the pond that it captures most water surface and turn it into a swamp.

It is also important to consider that if the plant has already taken root in the pond, it will be almost impossible to get rid of it.

The pondweed is propagated by cuttings and rhizome cuts obtained in spring or autumn, and by seeds that are rolled into clay and sent directly to the soil of the reservoir.

Botanical characteristics of pondweed

Pond belongs to aquatic plants, spreads in fresh or slightly brackish water bodies, begins to develop, fixing its roots at the bottom of the reservoir, produces long shoots that grow to the very surface of the water. Perennial pondweeds have alternate leaves, sessile, narrowly linear, filiform or broadly elliptical.

There are species in which the shape of the leaves is broadly ovate, whole-cut or with a serrated edge, curly-wavy. On the surface of the leaf there is an arcuate or parallel venation. Inflorescences of pondweed plants are spiky, located on leafless legs, towering above the water. The fruit is a drupe or nut, the seeds are without endosperm, it is completely absorbed by the embryo.

Useful properties of pondweed

The herb pondweed contains the carotenoid rhodo-xanthine. The presence of tannins has an astringent and bactericidal effect. In addition, due to the complex composition of aromatic substances, the herb is endowed with hemostatic and anti-inflammatory properties. There is a lot of ascorbic acid in pondweed, which helps to strengthen the immune system.

Research supports the herb's ability to exert anticoagulant effects. Seven types of flavonoids affecting the activity of enzymes have been identified in the plant.

The use of pondweed

Rdest was known back in the days of medieval Arab doctors who practiced the use of plant leaves for gastrointestinal problems. Nowadays, all parts of the plant are used for medicinal purposes. Harvesting is carried out in June-August. Herbal preparations are used in the form of compresses for oncological, abscesses, and ulcers. Used to relieve itching in some skin diseases. AT traditional medicine take inside the infusion of stems and leaves at.

Infusion of pondweed leaves: 1 tablespoon of dry grass is infused in 1 cup of boiling water for 2 hours. taking 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day.

A perennial aquatic plant is useful not only for humans - it is food for aquatic mollusks, insects, and fish. Dead shoots, falling to the bottom of reservoirs, decompose and turn into fertile silt.

Pod floating

With the help of grass, fractures, dislocations, sprains are treated. Apply dressings moistened with decoction for pain in. The floating pondweed has a cord-like stem, lanceolate leaves with longitudinal stripes. Flowering begins in June-July. It grows in ponds with stagnant or slow-flowing water. Can grow with low temperatures and very low light. Flowers are raised above the water. It can be grown in home landscape conditions, the plant tolerates poor lighting and low temperatures.

Types of pondweed

Ponds include eight genera, 100 species.

The pond is floating. This representative of the genus is very easily recognizable by its branched stems. A plant submerged in water has submerged leaves, when the pond dries up it becomes an aboveground plant with dense, short-leaved leaves. Inflorescences are located above the surface of the water, appear in June. In autumn, the leaves turn yellow, collapse, the stems fall to the bottom and take root, forming a new plant.

Curly pondweed. Curly pondweed has a small reddish, tetrahedral stem, alternate sessile lanceolate leaves, strongly curly or wavy, with small teeth along the edges, which fully corresponds to the name of the grass. The flowers are collected in an inflorescence - a few-flowered spike. The plant is completely submerged in water, only cobs with flowers rise above the water and are pollinated by the wind.

The pondweed is pierced. The pierced-leaved pondweed is a rhizome plant with very long, branched stems. The leaves of this species are rounded, translucent, slightly wavy along the edge, with poorly expressed transverse veins. Inflorescence - ear, dense. Broken shoots can take root in water, forming a hotel plant. This plant is one of the most common in both hemispheres of non-tropical latitudes. Its application is the same as that of other pondweeds. The leaves contain lutein, violaxanthin, neoxanthin and carotenes. Dry leaves are made into a powder and used to treat burns, wounds, skin rashes, and fungal diseases.

The pond is brilliant. This species is endowed with large shiny oval leaves. They are slightly wavy, bright green and completely immersed in water along with the stem. The brilliant pondweed spreads in rivers, reservoirs, preferring running water.

Common pondweed. The comb pondweed differs greatly from other species in its branched stems and filiform, very thin leaves. In nature, it grows in the shallow water of ponds, lakes and rivers. The inflorescence is loose, consists of whorls of flowers, blooms in summer.

Contraindications for pondweed

Contraindications for pondweed have not been identified, but individual tolerance should be checked.

Expert editor: Sokolova Nina Vladimirovna| Phytotherapeutist

Education: A diploma in the specialty "Medicine" and "Therapy" received at the University named after N. I. Pirogov (2005 and 2006). Advanced training at the Department of Phytotherapy at the Moscow University of Peoples' Friendship (2008).

About 100 species of this aquatic plant grow throughout the globe, in Russia, certain types of pondweed are found everywhere. They grow in stagnant or slowly flowing fresh or brackish waters, at a depth of up to 2.5-3 m, sometimes forming extensive thickets that can lead to overgrowing of a reservoir. Ponds are the most numerous genus among the aquatic vascular plants of Northern Eurasia: in Central Russia it includes every fourth species from this environmental group. That is why K. Linnaeus gave these plants a generic name, which, with Greek translated as "neighbor of the river", that is, plants growing in the water.

Most pondweeds growing in Russia have stems and leaves submerged in the water column (hidden under water), however, pondweed floating there are only floating leaves, and alpine pondweed- those and others. Approximately half of our pondweeds have leaves with narrow, linear or even hairy leaf blades (weeds comb, small, Berchtold, fries etc.), the rest of the leaf blades are wider, oblong (weeds Alpine, brilliant and longest) or even oval (weeds perfoliate and floating). Leaf blades can be very short, 2-3 cm, small pondweed and hairy, and can reach a length of 10-15 cm or more, for example, pondweed longest and brilliant. Leaves curly pondweed and underwater leaves grass pondweed occupy an intermediate position in shape and size. When drying pond floating and cereal are able to form terrestrial forms, which for some time can exist out of water on damp soil.

Although pondweeds - aquatic plants, they bloom, as a rule, above water, and pollen is transferred from plant to plant by wind. However, the widespread comb pondweed pollination occurs with the help of water.

Various ways vegetative propagation pondweed. They can reproduce by rooting cuttings of stems, like elodea. Many of our pondweeds form wintering buds (turions), which, in addition to the function of overwintering, contribute to the spread of the plant in the reservoir. A significant part of the species has long rhizomes, which also help to quickly capture the vacated areas of shallow water. Finally, comb pondweed in autumn it forms small nodules at the ends of underground stolons that overwinter in the ground, and in spring they give new plants. There are species that combine several different ways of vegetative reproduction.

Ponds play a huge role in the ecology of inland water bodies: these plants and their seeds serve as food for many aquatic and semi-aquatic animals, they provide shelter for fish and aquatic invertebrates, many species of aquatic organisms lay eggs on their leaves and stems. Among the pondweeds there are species - indicators of water quality. So, growth on the course pondweed Berchtold indicates a very severe pollution of the water of the river.

Brilliant pondweed (Potamogeton lucens L.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles 2-3 times longer than inflorescences, somewhat thickened upwards, bearing dense inflorescences up to 6 cm long.
Leaves: One of the largest-leaved pondweeds. Leaves are underwater, short-petiolate, up to 20 cm long and up to 40-50 mm wide, thin and transparent, shiny, with a developed pointed tip (sometimes very long!), finely serrate along the edge, with (7)9-13(15) developed veins; main lateral veins on blades without translucent border of lacunae. Stipules with two high keels.
Stem: Branched, cylindrical, thick stem 60-100(180) cm long.
Fruit: Fruitlets are broadly obovate, 2.5-3(4) mm long, with a short thick nose.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: The brilliant pondweed grows in rivers, lakes, ponds, oxbow lakes, reservoirs.
Prevalence: The species is predominantly distributed in Europe and Asia (northern half). In Russia, it grows throughout the European part, except for the Arctic regions, and in southern regions Siberia. One of the most common pondweeds in Central Russia.
Addition: Quite variable depending on habitat conditions; Within this species, several ecological forms are distinguished. In brackish waters of the southern regions of Russia, it is found Sarmatian pondweed (Potamogeton sarmaticus Maemets), with dull, slightly transparent, almost sessile leaves; the middle and lateral veins of the leaves immersed in water are bordered by a light strip of lacunae; sometimes there are also floating leaves.

Alpine pondweed (Potamogeton alpinus Balb.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Inflorescence 2-3(4) cm long, dense; flower stalks are long, equal in thickness to the stem.
Leaves: Submerged leaves lanceolate, 7-15(25) cm long and 1-2.5(3.5) cm wide, sessile, with 7-13 veins, dull; floating leaves are leathery, usually oblong-obovate or elliptical, wedge-shaped narrowed towards the base, 4-8 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, with a short petiole; all leaves are dark green, often with a reddish tinge.
Stem: Stem unbranched, 5-200 cm long, often reddish above.
Root: Rhizome thin, strongly branched.
Fruit: Fruitlets are about 3 mm long, with a keeled back and a short nose.
Flowering and fruiting time: Flowering in June-July, fruiting in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Alpine pondweed grows in lakes, ponds, ditches, oxbow lakes, less often in streams and small rivers, often forming significant thickets.
Prevalence: An arctoboreal species, widespread in many regions of Russia, both in the European and Asian parts. In Central Russia, it occurs mainly in the non-chernozem zone, often.
Addition: It reproduces and spreads by seeds and vegetatively.

Curly pondweed (Potamogeton crispus L.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles equal in thickness to the stem, 2-3 cm long, somewhat curved; inflorescences are short, few-flowered.
Leaves: With characteristic leaves: all of them are underwater, translucent, wavy or curly along the edge, finely serrated or serrated, with three (five) thickened veins. Leaf blades are broadly linear, sessile, twisted in a bud, with distinct transverse veins.
Stem: Flattened-tetrahedral, 0.5-2 mm thick, branched, 30-90 cm long.
Fruit: Fruitlets about 1.5 mm long, fused at the base, with an elongated curved nose.
Flowering and fruiting time: Blossoms in June-August, seeds ripen from July to October.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Curly pondweed grows in lakes, floodplain reservoirs, ponds, slowly flowing rivers.
Prevalence: Almost a cosmopolitan, settled on many continents. In Russia, it is widely distributed in the European part, in the south of Siberia and the Far East. Known in all regions of Central Russia.
Addition:

Floating pondweed (Potamogeton natans L.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles 4-10 cm long, bearing many-flowered, dense inflorescences 2.5-3.5(5) cm long.
Leaves: Submerged leaves with linear or lanceolate, rapidly decaying blades and elongated petioles. Floating leaves with long petioles, often 2-3 times the length of the blade, lighter under the blade and somewhat thinner than the rest; the plates are dense, oval or oblong, shortly pointed or blunt at the top. Stipules up to 15 cm long, herbaceous or semi-leathery, with membranous margins, usually preserved.
Stem: Stem simple or slightly branched, 60-150 cm long, with submerged and floating leaves.
Root: With a creeping, branched rhizome, the internodes of which thicken tuberous by autumn.
Fruit: Fruitlets obovate, 3-4(5) mm long, with a short nose.
Flowering and fruiting time: Flowering in June-July, fruiting in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Floating pondweed grows in various reservoirs with stagnant or slowly flowing water.
Prevalence: Widely distributed in the northern hemisphere. In Russia, it is common throughout the territory.
Addition: It reproduces and spreads by seeds and vegetatively. In the central and southern regions of the European part of Russia and in the south Western Siberia common similar view - Knotted pondweed (Potamogeton nodosus Poir.), characterized by a petiole somewhat thickened under the leaf blade, an elongated base of the plates in floating leaves and brown stipules up to 10 cm long, falling early.

Pod grass, or multi-leaved (Potamogeton gramineus L.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles twice as thick as the stem, thickening upwards, 5-11 cm long, bearing dense spicate inflorescences 2.5-3 cm long.
Leaves: Submerged leaves numerous, thin, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 4-9(12) cm long and 3-9 mm wide, slightly wavy, acute. Floating leaves are petiolate, dense, elliptical or oblong-elliptic, 2-7 cm long and 10-25 (30) mm wide, rounded or broadly cuneate at the base, and sharp or obtuse at the apex; often they may not develop. Stipules entire, herbaceous, 5-25 mm long.
Stem: Branched thin stem bearing submerged and floating leaves.
Fruit: Fruitlets 2.5 mm long, oblique, with a short nose.
Flowering and fruiting time: Blossoms in June-July, fruits ripen in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Pod grass grows in lakes, slowly flowing rivers, oxbow lakes, sometimes in desalinated sea bays.
Prevalence: Widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, except for Africa. In Russia, it is found throughout the territory, including in all regions of Central Russia; more often - in the non-chernozem zone.
Addition: It reproduces and spreads by seeds and vegetatively. A highly variable species, within which many forms, varieties and small species are distinguished; sensitive to environmental conditions.

Pondweed (Potamogeton perfoliatus L.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles of the same thickness with the stem, 2-2.5 times longer than the inflorescences, up to 6 cm long. Inflorescences 2-3 cm long, dense, many-flowered.
Leaves: With numerous submerged leaves. Leaves are translucent, almost round, ovate, oblong-ovate, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-triangular, 1.5-7(10) cm long and 15-35 mm wide, sessile, with a stem-like heart-shaped base, obtuse or acute at the apex, slightly wavy along the edge. Stipules large, falling off early.
Stem: With a branched thin stem 30-90 cm long.
Fruit: Fruitlets obliquely obovate, (2)3-4 mm long, acutely keeled on the back, compressed, with a short nose.
Flowering and fruiting time: Flowering in July, fruiting in August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: The pierced-leaved pondweed grows in stagnant and flowing, fresh and brackish waters of various reservoirs.
Prevalence: Nearly cosmopolitan, found on every continent except Antarctica. Distributed throughout Russia, except for the Arctic and desert regions. Common in all regions of Central Russia.
Addition: Often forms significant thickets that impede navigation. It reproduces and spreads by seeds and vegetatively. In places of mass growth it can be used as a fertilizer.

Longest pondweed (Potamogeton praelongus Wulf.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles 5-25(50) cm long, the same thickness as the stem. Inflorescence 3-6 cm long, usually dense, many-flowered.
Leaves: All leaves are submerged, rather thin, translucent, with distinct transverse veins, dark olive green, lanceolate-oblong, up to 15 cm long and 15-25 mm wide, rounded or slightly heart-shaped at the base, capped and obtuse at the apex , entire. Stipules are 3-4 times shorter than leaves, dense, whitish, long-lasting.
Stem: Stem up to 300 cm long, branched at the top, somewhat articulated at the nodes.
Root: With a long and thick, branched rhizome.
Fruit: Fruitlets are large, obliquely obovate, 4-5(6) mm long, with a short curved nose, with a wide wavy keel.
Flowering and fruiting time: Flowering in June-July, fruiting in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: The longest pond grows in a variety of water bodies, often stagnant or low-flowing, often at a considerable depth.
Prevalence: It is widely distributed mainly in the forest zone of the northern hemisphere. In Russia, it is found in the northern half of the European part, in Siberia and on Far East. Known in all regions of Central Russia, but more often in the non-chernozem zone.
Addition: It reproduces and spreads by seeds and vegetatively.

Flattened or eel-leaved pondweed (Potamogeton compressus L.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles flattened, 2-7 cm long and about 2 mm thick, bearing dense spicate inflorescences 1-2 cm long.
Leaves: All leaves are underwater, linear, 5-20 cm long and 2-4 mm wide, with five main veins, including those with a wide midrib, shortly pointed at the apex, entire, without glands at the base. Stipules whitish, fibrous.
Stem: Stem 90-150 cm long, flattened to winged, 2-4 mm wide, with elongated internodes and spaced sessile leaves.
Root: With an elongated rhizome, rarely without it.
Fruit: Fruitlets obliquely obovate, 3-5 mm long, with a short nose.
Flowering and fruiting time: It blooms from May (in well-warmed reservoirs) to July, and bears fruit from July to September.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: The flattened pondweed grows in lakes, floodplain reservoirs, swamp hollows, and ponds; usually on muddy ground.
Prevalence: It is widely distributed mainly in the forest zone of the northern hemisphere. In Russia, it is common in many areas, except for the Arctic and desert.
Addition: It reproduces and spreads by seeds and vegetatively, by parts of the stem or wintering buds.

Friza pondweed (Potamogeton friesii Rupr.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles 2-4(5.5) cm long, slightly thickened under the inflorescence; inflorescences intermittent, 5-13 mm long.
Leaves: All leaves are submerged, thin, linear, 3-6(10) cm long and 1.5-2.5 mm wide, pointed, usually with five veins, with two glands at the base and whitish, up to 20 mm long, two-toothed stipules.
Stem: With a simple or slightly branched, slightly flattened stem 30-100 cm long and shortened branches developing in the axils of the upper leaves.
Fruit: Fruitlets 2.5-3.4 mm long, flattened, ovoid, with a short nose.
Flowering and fruiting time: Flowering in June-July, fruiting in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Friza pond grows in various reservoirs with stagnant or slowly flowing water; usually on muddy ground.
Prevalence: Widely distributed in the forest zone of the northern hemisphere. It is found throughout Russia, except for the Arctic and desert regions.
Addition: It reproduces and spreads by seeds and vegetatively. In the European part of Russia, a similar species grows in reservoirs Reddish pondweed (Potamogeton rutilus Wolfg.), with a flattened stem, harsh leaves, gradually pointed at the top and with a thin pointed tip, at the base with fibrous, almost to the base split stipules.

Dull pondweed (Potamogeton obtusifolius Mert. et Koch)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles short, approximately equal in length to inflorescences, about 1 cm long, the same thickness as the stem, somewhat flattened; inflorescences with dense fruits.
Leaves: Leaves, sitting on the main stem, are wider than others - 2-3(4) mm, blunt at the apex, with a barely developed apex, with 3(5) veins; lateral veins noticeably shifted towards leaf margins; on the stem at the base of the plates there are two tubercles (glands). Stipules are large, whitish, not fused to the base.
Stem: Stem rounded or somewhat flattened, with two obtuse ribs, branched, up to 100 cm long, with numerous sessile underwater leaves.
Fruit: Fruitlets are about 4 mm long, with a short nose.
Flowering and fruiting time: Flowering in June-July, fruiting in July-September.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: The pondweed grows in stagnant and weakly flowing water bodies.
Prevalence: It is widely distributed mainly in the forest zone of the northern hemisphere. In Russia, it is found in the European part, more often in its northern half, and in the southern half of Siberia. Known in all regions of Central Russia.
Addition: It reproduces and spreads mainly by seeds.

Small pondweed (Potamogeton pusillus L. s.str.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles 1-3 cm long, filiform; spicate inflorescences 2-4 times shorter than peduncles, from 2-3 slightly spaced whorls of bisexual flowers.
Leaves: Leaves are underwater, soft, narrowly linear, 1-3 cm long, varying greatly in width - from almost filiform to 1 mm or more wide, sharp or pointed, sometimes with a small pointed tip, with three veins, the middle of which protrudes from below, without a strip gaps. Stipules 1-1.5 cm long, 2/3 fused, tender, light brown.
Stem: With filiform, cylindrical or slightly flattened, branching stem.
Fruit: Fruits obliquely elliptical, 1-2 mm long, keeled, with a short nose, olive green.
Flowering and fruiting time: Flowering in June-August, fruiting in July-September.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: The small pondweed grows in lakes, oxbow lakes, backwaters, canals, ponds, in fresh and slightly brackish water.
Prevalence: Widely distributed in the northern hemisphere. In Russia, it is found throughout the territory, except for the Arctic and desert regions. Recorded in all regions of Central Russia, occasionally.
Addition: In similar conditions throughout Russia and more often than small pondweed, there is a close Berchtold's Pod (Potamogeton berchtoldii Fieb.), with a cylindrical stem, narrow-linear, 1.5-2 mm wide, leaves; midrib with translucent lacunae, lateral veins on blades only slightly shifted to margins; plates at apex shortly pointed, edges of stipules free, not fused; peduncles are usually much longer than spike-shaped inflorescences, consisting of 3-6 whorls of bisexual flowers; fruitlets 1-2(3) mm long.

Common pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus L.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles 3.5-20 cm long, bearing inflorescences up to 3 cm long, consisting of few (usually five) somewhat spaced whorls of bisexual flowers.
Leaves: All leaves are submerged, narrowly linear to filiform, 5-15 cm long and 0.3-0.5 (1) mm wide, flat-convex, sometimes grooved, with a thin apex at the top, with three veins, two of which are placed closely to the edges of the plate, with a long, 2-5 cm, covering two branches, tubular, split, lightly bordered sheath. Stipules about 1 cm long, obtuse, whitish.
Stem: With strongly branching thin stem 50-150 cm long.
Fruit: Fruitlets are obovate, 2.5-3(4) mm long, with a short nose.
Flowering and fruiting time: Flowering in June-July, fruiting in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: The comb pondweed grows in various reservoirs with stagnant and running water; often forms extensive thickets.
Prevalence: It is widely distributed on all continents except Antarctica. A common sight throughout Russia.
Addition: It reproduces and spreads by seeds and vegetatively. A highly polymorphic species, represented by numerous ecological forms, some of which are considered subspecies or independent species. Occasionally, in the northern half of the European part of Russia, in Siberia and the Far East, in lakes, brackish water bodies on sandy or clayey-sandy soil, a close Filiform pondweed (Potamogeton filiformis Pers.), with blunt leaf tips; its vaginas have fused edges, covering one branch each, the fruitlets are obliquely obovate, 2-2.5 mm long, without a spout.

Hairy pondweed (Potamogeton trichoides Cham. et Schlecht.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Peduncles thin, up to 5 cm long. Inflorescence ovoid or spherical, few-flowered; each flower usually develops only one ovary.
Leaves: Leaves are underwater, sessile, bristly, dark green, 2-5(10) cm long and about 0.5 mm wide, gradually narrowed and sharp at the apex, with a thick central vein protruding from below, without a border of gaps, and two thin side. Stipules up to 7 mm long, spiky, dense, with ununited margins, drooping.
Stem: With filiform, abundantly branched stem.
Fruit: Fruitlets are about 2 mm long, with a tuberculate back and a tubercle on the ventral side.
Flowering and fruiting time: Flowering in June-July, fruiting in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: The hairy pondweed grows in reservoirs with stagnant and weakly flowing water, usually in shallow waters.
Prevalence: Mostly European. In Russia, it is distributed in the European part and southern Siberia; rare in many areas. Sporadically found in all regions of Central Russia.
Addition: It reproduces and spreads by seeds and vegetatively.

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