Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Identifying plants Plant Identification

AquaPlant aquatic plant id site.

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/

esshup and part andedammen

I don't know if you want to throw this one in the mix, or go down the next level. It might not help us Northerners, but it would help the people down South.

Here's another that has some that TAMU doesn't.

Something from Purdue

I'm just starting to see this stuff but it is everywhere in the shallow areas of the pond. I think it is Eurasian watermilfoil or maybe Chara. Any suggestions???

Cisco - I would like to meet the person who could accurately identify your weed from your two pictures above. Pics too blurry in too cloudy of water. Try pulling out a sprig of it about 6"-8" long and put it in clear well or tap water so one can clearly see it. Place the weed segment in a white or light colored bucket with the clear water then try to get a clear close picture. Then we may be able to provide some helpful informtion.

Some type of freshwater coral?

I'll get a better pic next week and post it.

It is hard to tell from pictures. But I have seen enough milfoil to tell you it is not milfoil. Could be Chara. Knowing your situation that is my bet.

I'm headed back to the ranch tomorrow so I'll pull some of it and get a clearer picture and post it Monday.

I pulled some of the stuff from the pond this morning.

I'm guessing these are cattails starting? This is the only place I see them right now.

Top photos you pulled look like Naiad to me. Lot of dead material makes it a bit tougher to id.

Bottom look like good ol cattails. Bulrush has rounded stems, tassles on top, no flat leaves. Emergent cattails, no catkins, yet. Photos very good. A few cattails normal, but without control they can take over an entire pond. 360 of shoreline. Do yourself a favor and practice preventive instead of corrective maintenance.

Thanks PF. Is the Naiad bad to have? It's around probably half the pond now. As far as the cattails, should I go ahead and cut them now or wait til winter or....

Thanks again

Naiad is not really a showstopper. But like anything else, it can get out of hand without competition and lots of untaken nutrients. The cattails are pond owners choice. As a manager, I like to have one stand of them, maybe 2-3% of a ponds shoreline, but way in the back. I limit them to one area for diversity of marginals. If you cut the catkins off when they are green and limit the rhizome spread they are not horribly invasive. But if you let them go, they are a nightmare. They are very difficult to eradicate.

Cisco - your submersed specie is mature & partially calcified Chara ("kara"); a higher form of aquatic algae - which also attests to very hard-water conditions in your pond.





You can confirm this ID by crushing a handful of the stuff in your hand and then taking a sniff. At that point, if you instinctively throw it on the ground and begin looking for a bar of hand-soap, you can be certain that it is Chara (aka "skunk weed").

Thanks guys. As long as it's not going to screw things up, I won't worry too much about it. What can be done about the hard water condition? I'll bet that has something to do with the clarity issue I have.

Yup, crush and sniff. If it is stinky, muskgrass or muskwort. It either smells nasty or not, fairly easy to tell. Looks more like Naiad to me, but that should determine which it is.

I'll give it the old sniff test in a couple of weeks when I'm back out there. Will the hard water be a problem?
Thanks again!!

If you are using your pond water in your household dishwasher it may leave spots on your fine crystal.

ewest, Thanks for the link to Aquaplant.... Very informative!!!

Most welcome. That is why we are all here.

Does anybody know what the plant is in the background of this photo? All summer I thought it was probably cattail as it grew from one stock to multiple. Now that it is fall it still has no seed heads. Any thoughts? Do cattail maybe not get seed heads the first year?

We have it to and it doesn't make the heads like traditional cat tails do .... No clue but it is invasive in my mind

Not sure about the plant, but the re is nice. IIRC, my cattail new growth didn't get heads right away. But, my rememberer isn't in the best shape, so wait for the plant people.

Pat, it does seem to spread pretty fast. What you see in the photo with my little pumpkinseed started as one plant earlier this year and has spread to that shown. I had some Aqua Neat in my sprayer one day and hit one plant to make sure I could control it if need be. You can see the dead plant in the picture.

CMM, thanks for the reply. I guess time will tell if it's cattails. I would suspect they would get seed heads next year if that's the case.

Bill
The neighbors 16 ac lake is loaded with it and it has never made seed heads (cattail) so not sure what it is..... They look very similar. The 16 ac lake it grows out to 3-4' all the way around.... PIA

Pat,

Does it get flowers? Kind of reminds me of an Iris of some kind.

The Pond Guy has a very good and quick weed ID service.....no obligation to buy any herbicides from them but they will tell you if it is invasive and if it is how to kill it. Send a decent picture off your smartphone and they will be back to you in 24 hours or less.

weedid@thepondguy.com

I have used it multiple times. Very helpful. BM61

Nothing but what you see. Thought it was cattail but never has the brown seed thingy at the ends. Stands about 3-4' out of the water

BM61,

I sent the e-mail to Pond Guy as you suggested. Their reply, "This weed looks just like a shoreline grass...." So, at least in their opinion, it's not cattails.

As it seems easily controlled by a pond safe glyphosate, I think I will keep a small area as another type of habitat when the water level goes back up.

Pat,

Must be at least similar to what you neighbor has so it will be interesting to see if it forms any kind of flower or seed head.

Bill, please do. I'm looking for something with similar density to kissimmee grass, and can do well in marginal water.

I'd be willing to bet that you will see cattail flowers next June or early July.....

Al, I think kissimmee grass is a type of bullrush, not a grass. I see different species referenced as kissimmee grass but most look like phragmites to me. Maybe you need to drive to Florida and take a shovel?

I think even if it is cattails, as the area is small, I will just remove seed heads and still allow an area to form by runners and just control its size with glyphosate. See a downside?

Scott, to be honest, if I thought that work for me, I'd make the drive to Florida n a heartbeat.

I'll be opening up 2017 with a pond almost completely void of vegetation. You've been here, and know that means tons of new cover, as fast, and cheap as possible. 3-3.5 acres worth seems about right.

The only downside is the attention and labor it will require.

Al, I have some plants still growing in my pond that were brought back here in 5 gal buckets from my buddies place near Miller Grove. That was probably 5-6 years ago.....

Here's another plant ID guide http://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/fish/programs/farmpond/PondPlantID.pdf

Looks like cattail to me

Thanks for the AquaPlant aquatic plant id site "ewest"!

I have something that I've never seen in my pond and I've had it for over 20 years. From the pics on the link to the AquaPlant aquatic plant id site, I assume it may be "Common Salvinia" maybe?? It's taken over pretty bad this year. It's floating, not attached to anything nor does it have long roots or anything. The whole mess of it will shift to one side of the pond on a windy day, so I'm planning on scooping as much as I can out next time this happens. But in the meantime I'd like to know what it is and/or what I can do to get rid of it, so that it doesn't come back after I get it all out, or as much as I can anyway. Thanks in advance to anyone who has any advice! (See attached pics)

Looks like salvinia to me too. That stuff completely covered my 14 acre duck lease pond and killed every bit of the widgeon grass. Very invasive. There is a weavel that will kill it, otherwise itll take chemicals to irradiate it. Or you can wait for winter and pray for below 30 degree temps for an extended period.

Not sure what I got here. Just statywd growing along the sides in a few places. It's the early stages so if it's not good I have a chance of taking it out still. Any suggestions?

That looks like it's one of the Potamogeton species. I'd like to have that in more of my clients ponds. It is easily treatable with chemicals or by mechanical means if it starts to cover too much of the pond for you.

I have a new plant growing. So far its prolly 5-6 feet long and spreading fairly fast. I dont see it anywhere else. If it's good great but if not it would be easy to pull it out now. Any help fellas? I'm color blind so trying to use the plant I'd is really hard for me.

I forgot to thank you for letting me know the plant a few post back. After reading it i went out and spread it around in a few places. It grows pretty fast and looks nice. So thank you

RS, the last pic closely resembles Creeping Water Primrose. I just transplanted some into my pond. The pond it came from was very old. The plants appeared to be rooted in a foot of water, two at most, but would extend out to 6 to eight feet from the shore line. It is easy to pull up from the pond floor and will grow up the bank so long as the soil stays very wet.

Sweet thank you....

I am having a 1.2 acre pond dug in Maine in about a month. It will primarily be filled with ground water but there is a rivulet that flows after rain, snowmelt, etc. that will flow directly into and out of it as well. We have had record rainfall this summer so it has been flowing almost nonstop since June. I noticed this ugly brown plant growing in it and thought I would reach out to the community here for some help. The water around here tends to be tannic and looks like dilute coffee.

What is it?
Should I be worried about it?
Is it harmful or just ugly?
Is it here only because of the record rainfall this year, or should I expect it to be in the pond as well?
Is there something I can do about it preemptively before the excavator arrives next month, or something I can do about it after the fact?
Will crayfish take care of it?

Thanks in advance for any help here from the professionals. I can take some close up photos if that's helpful.

I don't think it's a plant, it might very well be a type of algae.

Several things can be somewhat that color. Iron deposits , euglena (a type of plankton) - and some FA. My bet is the last but it is a wild guess. How did the water look ?

I'll have a closer look in the next couple days and see if I can get some closer photos. I may have a chance to have a look microscopically before the project starts as well. Unfortunately that microscope doesn't have a camera hooked up to it yet though.

The water isn't turbid but has the appearance of dilute black coffee which is typical of this region.

Thanks for your feedback. I'll put up some more photos when I have them.

We've been working on gathering information to try and help people identify their weeds.

https://www.lakemower.com/how-to-identify-aquatic-vegetation