Burke: Potamogeton alpinus vs. Potamogeton richardsonii

	Potamogeton alpinus	Potamogeton richardsonii
	northern pondweed, reddish pondweed	clasping-leaved pondweed, Richardson's pondweed
Habit	Annual, perennial herb, slender, rhizomed; stems greater than 100 cm, branched, branches not many, cylindric.	Aquatic, herbaceous perennials from slender rhizomes, the stems sparingly branched, greenish, 1-2 mm. broad and 3-6 dm. long, the internodes only 1-3 cm. long.
Leaves	Various shades of red; submersed sessile, 2-8 x 1-2 cm, lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, tapered to both ends, entire, tip blunt, veins 7-9; floating 0 or short-petioled, lanceolate, base tapered, veins 7-15; stipules beyond 3 cm, free, membranous, early-deciduous.	Leaves alternate, submersed, the blades sessile and clasping, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, up to 10 cm. long and 2 cm. broad, with crisp margins, 13-to 25-veined, rounded to acute; stipules free of the leaf, 1-2 cm. long, soon shredding into numerous whitish fibers.
Flowers	Inflorescence generally < 3 cm, floating to emergent; peduncle stiff.	Flowers perfect, in 6-12 closely compact whorls, in a spike 1.5-4 cm. long, on a stout peduncle 2-10 cm. long; perianth of 4 clawed segments, each with an upturned, oval blade; stamens 4, fused with the claws; pistils 4, sessile.
Fruit(s)	Around 2.5 mm, keels 1 or 3, generally, beaked, sides concave to convex.	Achenes obliquely obovate, about 3 mm. long, faintly keeled on the back, with no lateral keels, the stylar beak nearly 1 mm. long.

	Potamogeton alpinus	Potamogeton richardsonii
Flowering time	June-August	June-August
Habitat	Calm water of lakes and slow streams.	Standing or slow-moving water.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains and northern Great Plains; also in eastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and northeastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. amplifolius, P. berchtoldii, P. crispus, P. epihydrus, P. fibrillosus, P. foliosus, P. friesii, P. gramineus, P. illinoensis, P. natans, P. nodosus, P. obtusifolius, P. praelongus, P. pusillus, P. richardsonii, P. robbinsii, P. strictifolius, P. zosteriformis	P. alpinus, P. amplifolius, P. berchtoldii, P. crispus, P. epihydrus, P. fibrillosus, P. foliosus, P. friesii, P. gramineus, P. illinoensis, P. natans, P. nodosus, P. obtusifolius, P. praelongus, P. pusillus, P. robbinsii, P. strictifolius, P. zosteriformis
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Potamogeton richardsonii

northern pondweed, reddish pondweed

clasping-leaved pondweed, Richardson's pondweed

Habit

Annual, perennial herb, slender, rhizomed; stems greater than 100 cm, branched, branches not many, cylindric.

Aquatic, herbaceous perennials from slender rhizomes, the stems sparingly branched, greenish, 1-2 mm. broad and 3-6 dm. long, the internodes only 1-3 cm. long.

Leaves

Various shades of red; submersed sessile, 2-8 x 1-2 cm, lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, tapered to both ends, entire, tip blunt, veins 7-9; floating 0 or short-petioled, lanceolate, base tapered, veins 7-15;

stipules beyond 3 cm, free, membranous, early-deciduous.

Leaves alternate, submersed, the blades sessile and clasping, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, up to 10 cm. long and 2 cm. broad, with crisp margins, 13-to 25-veined, rounded to acute;

stipules free of the leaf, 1-2 cm. long, soon shredding into numerous whitish fibers.

Flowers

Inflorescence generally < 3 cm, floating to emergent;

peduncle stiff.

Flowers perfect, in 6-12 closely compact whorls, in a spike 1.5-4 cm. long, on a stout peduncle 2-10 cm. long;

perianth of 4 clawed segments, each with an upturned, oval blade;

stamens 4, fused with the claws;

pistils 4, sessile.

Fruit(s)

Around 2.5 mm, keels 1 or 3, generally, beaked, sides concave to convex.

Achenes obliquely obovate, about 3 mm. long, faintly keeled on the back, with no lateral keels, the stylar beak nearly 1 mm. long.

Potamogeton alpinus

Potamogeton richardsonii

Flowering time

June-August

Habitat

Calm water of lakes and slow streams.

Standing or slow-moving water.

Distribution

Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains and northern Great Plains; also in eastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and northeastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa