Map Snapshot
66 Records
Status
Curly Pondweed is found in a variety of different aquatic habitats. From Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County to the streams of the piedmont and the coastal plain creeks of the Eastern Shore, Curly Pondweed has become established many of Maryland's waterways. Curly Pondweed's native distribution is throughout most of Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. It became established in the United States in the early 1800's. According to the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species website, the first collection of Curly Pondweed was in the Philadelphia area in 1841. By the early 1980's Curly Pondweed was found throughout most of the United States and Canada. Curly Pondweed is an invasive species in Maryland (MISC 2022).
Description
From the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species website: Curly Pondweed grows entirely as a submersed aquatic plant with no floating leaves. Leaves are alternate, 4-10 cm in length and 5-10 mm wide. Leaves are conspicuously toothed along leaf margins, sessile (attached directly to the stem), narrowly oblong, undulate (wavy like lasagna noodles) with a conspicuous mid-vein. Leaf tips are obtuse (rounded or blunt), olive-green to reddish-brown, and somewhat translucent. Stems are flattened, channeled, with few branches. Rhizomes are pale yellow or reddish, rooting at the nodes. Small flowers (3 mm wide), with greenish-brown or greenish-red sepals form on a terminal spike above the waterline producing 3-4 achenes (fruits) per flower.
Where To Find
Look for this invasive plant in any of Maryland's many waterways.
Seasonality Snapshot
Source: Wikipedia
| Potamogeton crispus | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Alismatales |
| Family: | Potamogetonaceae |
| Genus: | Potamogeton |
| Species: | P. crispus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Potamogeton crispus | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Potamogeton crispus, the crisp-leaved pondweed,[2] curly pondweed,[3] curly-leaf pondweed or curled pondweed, is a species of aquatic plant (hydrophyte) native to Eurasia but an introduced species and often a noxious weed in North America.
Description
[edit]Curly-leaf pondweed is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing a flattened, branching stem up to a meter long. The submerged leaves are alternately arranged.[3] The leaves are sessile, linear or oblong in shape, 25–95 millimetres (1–3+3⁄4 in) long and 5–12 millimetres (3⁄16–15⁄32 in) wide.[4] The leaves may be bright green, olive green or (especially later in the season) fibrous[2] and brownish and have noticeably serrated margins, a feature that distinguishes them from other pondweeds. The leaves usually have wavy edges but this is not always apparent, especially on new growth.[4] Turions occur in leaf axils and at stem tips.
The inflorescence is a short spike of flowers emerging above the water surface. It flowers from May until October.[5]
The turions of the plant develop along with the fruits and germinate, leaving the newly sprouted plants to overwinter.[6]
Although quite variable, P. crispus is usually a straightforward plant to identify. Hybrids with various other pondweeds are recorded, but these do not usually closely resemble P. crispus.
There are described hybrids with Potamogeton trichoides (P. × bennettii Fryer), P. perfoliatus (P. × cooperi (Fryer) Fryer), P. alpinus (P. × olivaceus Baagøe ex G.Fisch.), P. lucens (P. × cadburyae Dandy & G.Taylor), P. praelongus (P. × undulatus Wolgf.), P. ochreatus (P. × jacobsii Z.Kaplan, Fehrer & Hellq.) and P. friesii (P. × lintonii Fryer).[7]
Distribution
[edit]Potamogeton crispus is native to a wide range of countries in Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam); Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and Europe.[8] It has been introduced to the Americas[9] and New Zealand.[8][10]
Ecology
[edit]Curly pondweed is widespread and common across most of its native range, growing in standing and slow-flowing water including small ponds and ditches. It is strictly a lowland plant and requires fine substrates in standing or slow-flowing calcareous water. However, it is tolerant of significant nutrient pollution, and this has allowed it to persist in intensively farmed areas where more sensitive pondweeds have declined. Its production of both seed and turions makes it relatively resistant to disturbance such as dredging, in contrast to some of the larger broad-leaved pondweeds, although cutting down to the sediment surface in the early growing season may inhibit turion production.[10]
Environmental impact
[edit]This pondweed is considered an invasive species in much of North America. It was introduced to the Great Lakes and inland lakes within that region. The plant thrives in conditions normally less habitable to native plant species. It is also able to survive beneath the surface of frozen waterways and resume its rapid vegetative growth before other water plants can regrow.[9] It competes with native plant life and sometimes displaces it. Curly pondweed may clog waterways, inhibiting aquatic recreation, and is considered a nuisance in some areas.[9] It has also been introduced to South America and New Zealand.[8]
Cultivation
[edit]Potamogeton crispus is sometimes cultivated as a pond plant, and generally makes a good garden plant. Since it starts to die back rather early, it is recommended to cut it back in July after it has flowered. In common with other pondweeds of this group it roots poorly from stem cuttings and is best propagated by division of the rhizomes or from turions. As it has proved invasive in some areas, curly pondweed should not be grown outside its native range.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "Potamogeton crispus L." The World Flora Online. 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
- ^ a b Hellquist, C. Barre; Thorne, Robert F.; Haynes, Robert R. (2012). Jepson Flora Project (ed.). "Potamogeton crispus". Jepson eFlora. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
- ^ a b Knoke, Don; Giblin, David (2022). "Potamogeton crispus". Burke Herbarium Image Collection. Burke Museum, University of Washington. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
- ^ a b Preston C. D. (1995) Pondweeds of Great Britain and Ireland. BSBI Handbook No. 8. Botanical Society of the British Isles, London.
- ^ Rose, Francis (2006). The Wild Flower Key. Frederick Warne & Co. pp. 491–492. ISBN 978-0-7232-5175-0.
- ^ Flora of North America
- ^ The Plant List: Potamogeton crispus. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic Gardens. Accessed November 18, 2014
- ^ a b c Guo Y., Haynes R. R., Hellquist C. B., Kaplan Z. 2010. Potamogeton. Flora of China, 23, 108-114. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=10726 Accessed July 28, 2022
- ^ a b c d Thayer, D.D.; Pfingsten, I.A.; Cao, L.; Berent, L. (18 March 2016). "Potamogeton crispus (curly-leaf pondweed)". U.S. Geological Survey Nonindigenous Aquatic Species, Gainesville, FL. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
- ^ a b Mikulyuk, Alison; Nault, Michelle (19 March 2020). "Potamogeton crispus (curlyleaf pondweed)". Invasive Species Compendium. Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Potamogeton crispus at Wikimedia Commons- CalPhotos Photo gallery
- GLANSIS Species FactSheet
- Species Profile- Curly Pondweed (Potamogeton crispus), National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for Curly Pondweed.
