Potamogeton foliosus

Leafy pondweed

Family: Potamogetonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Leafy pondweed is a native perennial aquatic plant found in various aquatic habitats across California. Flowering from May to September, this underwater plant produces small, inconspicuous green-brown flower spikes in compact cylindrical clusters. Growing with slender, branching stems that are slightly compressed, it spreads through delicate rhizomes and forms winter buds. Its submersed leaves are thin and linear, typically 1 to 10 centimeters long with 1 to 3 subtle veins, and attached to the stem by sheath-like stipules. The plant's fruit is olive to green-brown with a distinctive wavy, wing-like keel and slightly convex sides.

California counties: Kern, San Bernardino, Lake, San Mateo, Ventura, Los Angeles, Plumas, San Diego, Riverside, Siskiyou, Lassen, Modoc, Marin, Tuolumne, Monterey, Humboldt, Imperial, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, Inyo, Mono, Butte, Santa Barbara, Orange, Nevada, Contra Costa, Shasta, Sonoma, Mariposa, Santa Cruz, Calaveras, Santa Clara, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Yuba, Mendocino, Stanislaus, Merced, San Joaquin, Alameda, Sierra, El Dorado

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.