General: Perennial, aquatic or semi-terrestrial herb from strong rhizomes; stems up to 100 cm long, flattened, compressed, usually not branched.
Leaves: Submersed leaves ribbon-like, thin, the sides parallel, whitish-green, 1-20 cm long, 3-7 mm wide, unstalked, the tips pointed, with broad translucent bands along the midveins (totalling about 1/3 of the leaf width) and with 3 to 13 veins, the stipules 0.5-3 cm long, inconspicuous; floating leaves 1-7 cm long, 0.5-2 cm wide, leathery, long-stalked, lanceolate to elliptic, the tips pointed, tapering at the bases.
Flowers: Inflorescence spikelike, the spikes 2-4 cm long, with 5 to 12 whorls of flowers, the stalks thin.
Fruits: Achenes, almost globe-shaped, 2.5-4.5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, flattened, beakless, the keels pronounced, winged.
Peaty lakes, ditches and ponds from the lowland and steppe to subalpine zones; common in coastal BC, infrequent E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; N to AK, disjunct E from SK to NF and S to ME, PA, NC, GA, AL, MS, LA, SD, CO, UT, NV and CA; in Europe only at Outer Hebrides.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
BC Ministry of Environment:BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer,
the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.
Synonyms and Alternate Names
Potamogeton epihydrus subsp. nuttallii (Cham. & Schltdl.) Calder & Roy L. Taylor Potamogeton epihydrus var. nuttallii (Cham. & Schltdl.) Fernald Potamogeton epihydrus var. ramosus (Peck) House Potamogeton nuttallii
