Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Identifying plants Please help indentify pond weed

I just bought a piece of land in South Carolina that has a 3 acre pond. I am trying to identify a plant that grows along the entire bank in shallow water... see attached photos. I have looked on the web and cant make a positive match to any of the pictures that I have found.
If anyone can i dentify this plant it is greatly appreciated

Try this cool website:

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/plant-identification/visual-index/

OP's Photos


Variable-leaf Milfoil

Kelly:

From the OP's pictures, what made you say Variable rather than Eurasian?

Sorta like asking a momma how she can tell her triplets apart.
Hard to put it into words. Photos show the difference better than I can describe.

There are at least 10-12 species not including varieties of native water milfoils in the US. Experts sometimes use DNA to separate the species and maybe subspecies/variety. Leaves and leaflets can be variable but at times can help separate at least some of the species. Technically the most dependable way to separate the Variable and Eurasian milfoils is to look at the floral brats. Bracts of variable are sharply toothed and longer than the flowers whereas on Eurasian the bracts are not longer than the flowers. Identifying immature plants without flowers or floral brachs becomes more difficult.

Some helpful hints but not absolutes. When Eurasian watermilfoil is out of water, the leaves lose their rigidity and often collapse around the stem. The growing tips of the plant are often but not always bright red. The stem can range from pale pink to red to reddish brown with feathery leaves. The flowering structure, usually present in late summer, is the best characteristic to identify Eurasian watermilfoil. The flower is an emergent spike, up to twice the width of the stem. The red flowers are larger than the green bracts. Except for the native Northern watermilfoil, other native watermilfoils have flowers that are smaller than the green bracts, or they lack emergent flowering spikes.
From: http://www.adkinvasives.com/aquatic/plantid/EMilfoil.html

Good info Bill; but I'm not sure whether you're questioning my call regarding the OP's photos (as M. heterophyllum vs other similar native species) - or suggesting that the OPs photo could be EWM.
I'm highly confident that it isn't EWM - although I'm not absolutely certain as to which "variable-leaf variety" it belongs.

MISTAKABLE MILFOILS (PDF)

Thanks all for the quick responses...
This forum is cool. A great resource.
I'll do some more research assuming that I am dealing with variable milfoil.
I hate to be such a raw rookie but have a follow up question...
Should I be concerned about this plant? The plant seems to occupy about 20% of the pond along the shallow banks. The pond according to neighbors
has Brim, catfish and bass. The pond is spring fed at one end and has a pretty active spillway at one corner of the pond damn. The spillway creates a small flow across the edge of my property that leads to a larger creek. My goal for the pond is that it is a good environment for the fish and wildlife... deer, waterfowl, etc. I am no expert but the pond seams healthy.
There is alot of small fish hanging around the banks (bass and I think blue gills). We actually caught a couple big bass along the ponds edge.
Do I need to address the milfoil or just let it be? Also the pond does have a large valve and a drain pipe to drain water from the pond. Should I consider drawing the pond down?

You may get multiple responses/opinions; some conflicting - yet each may have a merit or drawback.
To me, if an aquatic plant is "behaved" (ie. a native specie, non-invasive/doesn't overpopulate and isn't an aesthetic distraction), I'd leave it alone, but monitor its habits.
Your pond's depth-profile and water clarity may limit the areas in which this plant can grow - or not. I've seen it overpopulate in some fairly deep spring-fed/crystal clear lakes - so watch out.
Although aquatic vegetation isn't necessary for a healthy fishery (IMO), I think the right type and amount of aquatic vegetation contributes to and compliments a pond in many ways.
In short: keep an eye on the plant's proliferation - and take steps to regulate its expansion beyond 25% coverage.

Thanks Kelly and Bill. My reason for asking is that I ran across a plant that I thought was EWM, but after a bit of reflection, I'm having my doubts. It doesn't have the reddish tips on the plant. No blooms unfortunately. Other than that, it looks what I call EWM up here.

Kelly:

I'd like to get a 100% postive ID. I'll take some pictures in the morning and send them to you via PM.

What is this and what can I use to kill it? This only grows in the rocks around my pond. There are no leaves or flowers. It's just a reed like plant. I have tried roundup and glypsophate with no luck.
Pond is located in Northern Indiana.

looks like horsetail reed...

Ok it sound's like this stuff is hard to kill, and so far i have to agree. Any ideas out there?

Read these 2 links. Make sure any chemicals you use are rated to be used around ponds.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/controlling-horsetail-plants-28748.html

The Monsanto link is from the UK, and I don't know if the chemical is here in the states, but the process should be the same with any glyphosate based product. Pay close attention to the application mix rate, and I would add extra furfactant that is specifically taylored for use around ponds.

http://www.monsanto-ag.co.uk/content.output/172/172/Roundup/Difficult%20Weeds/Horsetail.mspx

While the injection method is very labor intensive, I'd try going that route and working on small areas at a time, making sure that I hit every single stem.

Yeah, that stuff has incredible root depth and mass, making a systemic poison absorbed by leaves quite ineffective. Darned stuff doesn't really have leaves to absorb it! When I worked as a landscaper, we would nuke a new garden from orbit with 2 herbicides. Horsetails would grow FASTER because all of the competition was gone.

Horsetail is picky about the ph of the soil it grows in, concentrated vinegar would be effective

Love my horsetail. I planted some and it has been great at stabilizing pond banks.