Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Identifying plants Can you Identify this plant?

We have this "seaweed" growing in our 5.6 acre pond and I'd like to figure out what it is so we can control the growth some.

Thanks.

I'll bet that if you grind up some in your hand and smell it, it'll smell musky or skunky.

If it does, it's Chara and is a form of algae.

Looks like what I call coontail

KSBASS:

Go here http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/

and look up coontail and chara. Take a look at what the differences are, then go back to the OP picture, look, and tell me again what you think it is.

They both look very similar It sure looks like one or the other. I personally like alittle coontail as long as its under control.

I don't remember it smelling that bad, but after going over to the aquaplant website and looking at more photos, I'm with esshup that it's chara.

It has been in this pond probably 20+ years that I can remember. It never really gets out of hand because we also use the pond to ski and tube on. The boats keep the water a little cloudy and slows its growth down I guess

Thanks for the help guys!

Chara grows well in MI ponds with hard water where it often develops crusty deposits on the stem-'leaves'. You are fortunate that it does not develop large expansive beds which is often the case with Chara. If the pond water is soft with low hardness then it is likely Nitella vary similar to Chara but growing in different water conditions. The main thing I dislike about Chara is it develops black smelly sediments underneath the weedbeds.

Where is Cecil when we need him? Doesn't he take chara out of his ponds by the wheelbarrow load?

I too believe it is chara (the algae is pronounced "kara" -- but the spelling has become a popular name for newborns, and can be pronounced Sarah, Kara, or Chara (with a "ch" sound like in church)).

Coontail is pretty similar, and closely related. It has smooth branches and the stems are more translucent, and they appear to be filled with green Jell-O. Coontail also lacks the musky odor found with chara.

In any case, both can be controlled the same way. However, in a large pond/lake they often are not a problem unless they really interfere with swimming and fishing.

Here's a case where forum-response "buttons" would be useful; such as a button for "like", a button for "disagree" and one for "What have you been smoking?". My response would require a decision between the second and third option.

Kelly, I think Ken was trying to say that both can be raked out and put in a wheelbarrow.