I've had a new plant pop up in my pond within the last two to three weeks. It is distributed in seemingly random locations around the edges of the pond. The first bloom that I noticed started in water approximately 2 feet deep and has now grown to the top of the water.

I've searched the forum to try and identify it myself but I'm unsure about a match. I want to be sure that I have the correct ID before I do something that I regret later.

Three questions: What is it and is it a problem plant?; and, Should I try to physically remove the plants? It's not all that widespread at the moment but I've noticed that it breaks apart easily and floats so I don't what to do anything that could spread it without more info, particularly if it is a problem plant.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I'm not good at submerged plant ID, but if it has moved in & grown as fast as you say, imo that's telling you something. It's invasive.
It looks similar to what I have ie: Widgeon Grass.

Can you remove it completely from the water and take a photo of it on a light colored background?

Doesn't photograph well out of water as it collapses upon itself. Hope this helps.

Looks very similar to what I had in my pond this summer. Either the widgeon grass mentioned or sago pondweed I believe. I had it around nearly 75% of my 1/2 acre pond and spread 40 lb of Hydrothol and within 1 week it was pretty well gone. It will spread fairly quickly. I tried pulling it out but it just seemed to make it spread faster. I know you can buy a weed cutter to trim it off, but I decided to kill it. We'll see if it comes back next year.
Guess you could selectively spread the Hydrothol and try to keep some areas if you don't want to rid your whole pond. But it will spread on you so keep an eye on it!!

I am think it is a species of algae similar to Chara(it may just be Chara) and not a vascular plant but I could be wrong. I would PM PB forum member Bill Cody and get his advice on what it is. He is very knowledgeable in this area and can tell you whether it's sage, widgeon or an algae... I wish I could give you a confident answer but not being able to see it in person is stumping me!

VA,

Is it crunchy when you smash it and smell like some kind of bad garlic / old musty smell? It looks alot like what I have which is Chara or Muskgrass as they call it. Mine did the same thing all of a sudden BOOM! There is was all over the place. No for sure but I would agree with CJ that it could be Chara.

RC51

VA,

I also read this on the plant ID site just below your post.

Muskgrass is named for its strong garlic-y odor. Once identified by smell, it will be remembered. This macro-alga has no true "leaves", only branches and branchlets. Muskgrass is relatively rough to the touch. During times of reproduction, dark, ball-like sporangia appear seed-like along the branchlets.

Notice the last couple of lines where it talks about dark ball like seeds. That sounds and looks just like your first picture.

RC51

The plant in the pictures is bladderwort. The little black specs you see in the pic are actually little ballders that trap and digest very tiny organisms

See this

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/floating_plants/bladderwort_pics.htm

It may very well be that indeed. The more I look at the picture of it in his hand it looks to thin and hairy looking to be chara.

RC51

It's funny, but the picture in VA Pond Owner's second post looks totally different from the two pics in his first post. The second post's pic does, indeed, look a lot like the chara I've been pulling from my small pond, while the first two pics are nothing I've seen before (still a total newbie here!). Interesting, as always, to learn from the experts here!