Potamogeton nodosus

Long-leaved pondweed

Family: Potamogetonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Long-leaved pondweed is a native perennial found in diverse regions including northern California Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert in shallow water habitats such as lakes, ponds, and streams at elevations of 100 to 2,750 meters. Flowering from May to August, this aquatic plant produces small, inconspicuous greenish flowers along slender underwater inflorescences less than 5 centimeters long. Growing with branching rhizomatous stems up to 3 meters in length, it develops both submerged and floating leaves with distinctive characteristics. Its underwater leaves are linear to lance-elliptic, 2 to 15 centimeters long and 10 to 40 millimeters wide, while floating leaves are elliptic to ovate, 5 to 10 centimeters long with 9 to 21 visible veins. The fruit is small, 3 to 5 millimeters long, with three distinct keels and flat sides.

Habitat: Shallow water, lakes, ponds, streams

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 100-2750 m

Bioregions: NCoR, CaRF, c&amps SNF, n SNH, GV, CCo, SnFrB, SCo, SnBr, PR, GB, DMoj

California counties: Humboldt, Orange, San Diego, Fresno, Mono, Santa Cruz, Tuolumne, San Mateo, Inyo, Mendocino, Modoc, San Bernardino, Tulare, Lake, Kern, Marin, Butte, Los Angeles, Ventura, Shasta, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Alameda, Alpine, Glenn, Merced, Monterey, Nevada, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Yuba, Plumas, Imperial, Tehama, Lassen, Solano, Stanislaus, Madera, Yolo, Siskiyou, Trinity, El Dorado, Riverside, Del Norte, Sierra, Colusa, Napa

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