I was walking around the pond after work, trying to decide if I needed to add a little more dye, and came across this plant floating beside the dock. I've never seen anything like it. Would really like to know what it is. Is it considered invasive? Is it a good/bad plant?

I have to assume turtles pulled it up...or it spreads thru fragmentation.

[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/mhNicSQdtGjXBcXA8[/img]

[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/irdGe49VQBEt4am39[/img]

As always, any insight is greatly appreciated.

Isn't that coon-tail?

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/coontail.html

Mike your photos are not embedding in the post (at least from what I can see on my end) Can someone spot what might be wrong? It appears he is setting up things correctly but maybe the link form his shared photo album isn't the correct format?

I'll defer to others on how to identify pond weeds!

I dont think its coontail. The "leaves", if you can call them that, are very fine, almost look like FA, but they're growing off of stems. No ringing of foliage at all like coontail or milfoil. The entire stem is covered by this fine hair-like growth. Almost feathery. Approx. 20 tiny stems emerging from a cluster of roots. Oh....there's no smell to them either.

CC...the pics open fine for me!!

Send a PM to Mr Bill Cody or Mr Kelly Duffie they if anyone probably would know

It's definitely not coontail or Eurasian milfoil.

https://aquaplant.tamu.edu/plant-identification/category-submerge-plants/

I'm going to guess that it is some sort of green hair algea growing on the stems of another type of plant.

Hey Shorty. Yeah, that's exactly what I thought when I first picked it up. I even tried to pull it off, but it's actually growing "out" of the stems. Not "on" it like algae would. And for as fine as it is, it's pretty strong. If you look closely at those stems that seem bare, you can see new growth starting.

Its definitely a strange and interesting looking plant. Would be really pretty in an aquarium.

Thanks for the suggestion Pat. I'll definitely sent Mr. Cody a PM and ask him to take a look at it.

There are lots of types of algea, I still think it is some sort of hair algea that is anchored into the stems on another type of plant.

I have some sort of bryozoan colony (I think) that anchors itself onto almost everything submerged shallow that isn't dirt or rock around July every year. Smartweed, dog bane, grass, sticks, bark, fish cages, even my pond thermometer gets covered by it.

That's the way my FA is now!! LOL. Could be some form of string algae, I guess.

It could be as Shorty suggests some form of filamentous algae growing on stems of a plant like Eleochris. Do you have other similar bare stem plants in the pond that don't have the hairs??. Filamentous algae can grow very strongly attached to substrates. IMO the only way to know for sure is to look at some of the hairs using a microscope at 100X-400X and see if the hairs have the structure of FA or not. FA filaments will have unique cell structure.

I see the problem. If you use the [img]....[/img] to try to embed the pictures right in the post, then you also have to have an upload of the actual pictures attached to that SAME post as an attachment using the file manager option that is under the posting window. And the address in between the [img]... phrase has to be the pondboss address that shows up in your browser when you click on each attachment.


If you are just linking to a picture that is hosted at an external link then you don't need to fuss with the [img] thing, you would then go to 'full screen reply' and click the little icon that allows you to embed a picture and then in the dialogue box you would paste the photos.app.goo.gl/ etc link.

Sorry if that is too complicated.

That's entirely possible. I have FA growing like crazy on my fish cage right now.

CC....that last part is how I post my pictures already. I've never been able to embed pics on this sight....only links.

CC....that last part is how I post my pictures already. I've never been able to embed pics on this sight....only links.

MY attempt to understand and help was like this:

If you can't embed pictures, then you might as well just post the link as a copy and paste like this:

https://aquaplant.tamu.edu/plant-identification/category-submerge-plants/

and skip trying to add the [img] stuff etc. Saves you time and we can click on the link.

The other option is to download pictures to your computer, then use the file manager and actually attach the picture for us to click on.

If you want to embed them then you are missing a step, and somewhere here there is a better step by step instruction on how to embed them. Someone can probably easily post it. But it is about a 3 step process using the [img] trick.

I find that photobucket is a simpler way to embed pictures in the posts since photobucket hosts them and gives a proper 'link' that works with the software of this forum to make them embed nicely.

But if you use the instructions and add the necessary brackets and find the proper link after attaching the files etc etc then it will work your way with a little modification of your technique.

Strange that all the pic links I've posted up to now have been accessed by others up till now. Apparently others have been able to open them without any issues...as far as I know anyway. No-one else has said otherwise.

I have to sign in under my Google account to see them when I click the link.

For each gallon of water mix in 14 ounces of Diquat and 14 ounces of Cutrine Plus....that is a concentrated powerful mixture that will almost certainly totally kill it....if that is what you want to do. Stick a long sprayer wand (preferably 4 ft. or longer) under the water and drive through the weed bed using your jon boat. BM61.

It's not a bed, I just found this piece floating. It may just be FA on a dead plant I pulled up while raking. I have an email out to someone Mr Cody turned me on to. Waiting for an answer.

Just found another one floating by the dock. Now I'm more convinced it's a plant of some kind. This one has bright green stems. Not as "fluffy" as the first one, but definitely the same stuff. Hope y'all can open this picture.

[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/8myuzf4S9QgpgppD7[/img]

Thanks to Mr. Cody and Kelly Duffie, I now know what this is. Those who suggested FA embedded on plant stem were correct. The plant is Spike Rush, which I have along with another type. Hopefully the new dye application and aeration with keep most of the FA at bay.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

This forum is an amazing resource. Absolutely amazing.