Potamogeton perfoliatus
Potamogeton crispus
clasping-leaf pondweed, potamot perfolié
crisp-leaf pondweed, crispate leaf pondweed, curled pondweed, curly pondweed, curly-leaf pondweed, potamot crepu
present.
absent.
terete, without spots, to 250 cm;
nodal glands absent.
flattened, without spots, to 100 cm;
nodal glands absent.
absent.
common, axillary or terminal, 1.5–3 × ca. 2 cm, hard;
leaves ± 2-ranked;
outer leaves 1–4 per side, base not corrugate, apex rounded;
inner leaves rolled into linear, terete structure, oriented parallel to outer leaves.
submersed, ± spirally arranged, sessile, lax;
stipules deteriorating into fibers and deciduous, inconspicuous (absent on proximal portion of stem), convolute, free from blade, light brown to green, not ligulate, 3.5–6.5 cm, not fibrous, not shredding at apex;
blade olive-green, broadly lanceolate, orbiculate, or ovate, not arcuate, 0.9–7.6(–9.7) cm × 7–40 mm, base rounded, without basal lobes, clasping, margins entire, often crispate, apex not hoodlike, not splitting when pressed, round, rarely acute;
veins 3–25.
submersed, ± spirally arranged, sessile, lax;
stipules persistent to deliquescent, inconspicuous, convolute, free from blade, brownish, not ligulate, to 0.5 cm, not fibrous, not shredding at tip, apex obtuse;
blade light to dark green, linear, not arcuate, 1.2–9 cm × 4–10 mm, base obtuse to rounded, without basal lobes, not clasping to nearly clasping, margins conspicuously serrate, not crispate, apex not hoodlike, round to round-acute, lacunae in 2–5 rows each side of midrib;
veins 3–5.
unbranched, emersed;
peduncles not dimorphic, terminal or axillary, erect to rarely recurved, cylindric, 1–7.3 cm;
spike not dimorphic, cylindric, 0.4–4.8 cm.
unbranched, emersed;
peduncles not dimorphic, terminal or rarely axillary, erect to ascending, cylindric, 2.5–4 cm;
spikes not dimorphic, cylindric, 10–15 mm.
sessile, greenish brown to olive-green, obovoid, turgid or rarely concave, not abaxially or laterally keeled, 1.6–3 × 1.3–2.2 mm;
beak erect, 0.4–0.6 mm;
sides without basal tubercles;
embryo with 1 full spiral.
sessile, red to reddish brown, obovoid, turgid to slightly concave, not abaxially or laterally keeled, 6 × 2.5 mm;
beak apically recurved, 2–3 mm;
sides without basal tubercles;
embryo with 1 full spiral.
= 52.
= 52 (Europe).
Potamogeton perfoliatus
Potamogeton crispus
Four hybrids, Potamogeton perfoliatus × P. praelongus (= P. × cognatus Ascherson & Graebner), P. perfoliatus × P. pusillus (= P. × mysticus Morong), P. gramineus × P. perfoliatus (= P. × nitens Weber [P. × subnitens Hagström]), and P. alpinus × P. perfoliatus (= P. × prussicus Hagström), have been described.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
No specimens have been seen from New Brunswick, but the species is to be expected there.
Potamogeton crispus, an introduced species, has spread throughout much of North America. The expansion of this species’s range from its original collection in North America, apparently about 1840, has been discussed (R. L. Stuckey 1979). This is the only species of pondweeds in North America with serrate leaves and consequently it is easily recognized.
Life history of Potamogeton crispus is unusual as it flowers and fruits in late spring and early summer, at which time it also produces turions. The plants decay shortly after those structures develop, leaving only fruits and turions, which survive the summer. No one has observed any seed germination, but the turions (referred to as dormant apices) germinate in late summer or fall, and the plants overwinter as small plants only a few cm centimeters in size, even under the ice in northern climates (R. L. Stuckey et al. 1978). Growth then continues as the water begins warming in the spring.
One hybrid, Potamogeton crispus × P. praelongus (= P. × undulatus Wolfgang ex Schultes & Schultes f.), has been described.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
