PBF members -
I've received a number of inquiries as to the plant (or weed?) growing in our pond. I'm no botanist so pardon if I use incorrect terminology up front. I've always referred to the plant as a grass simply because it looks like a wide blade grass to me.
BACKGROUND: Note the pond is in the Piedmont zone of Georgia. This was a valley where run off comes down 4 areas and the "end of this area" was dammed up way back in the day. The dry area of the valley you don't see has a large area with ferns and used to be a crop area from what I've been told.
TEXTURE: The text is rough but not sharp like razor grass. You slide a blade between your fingers and it is not glass smooth. It is like a sandpaper but also "sticky" - no not really sticky but maybe "hair" that when you drag your fingers against it causes friction so it seems sticky?
HEIGHT: I think the height is limited to 5 feet or so. In the shallow end of the pond that is roughly 7 feet deepest the grass will grow but seems to top out around 5 feet. This is not exact as I've not measured it, but it grows in the shallows for sure and not in the deeper water.
SUN/SHADE: It appears to grow wherever there is light. Our pond receives sun and there are no spots that are shaded 24/7. The number one factor appears to be depth. Our pond is almost like a quarry where there is maybe a 2-3 foot ledge and then it drops to 8 to 10 feet immediately. The ledge might be 1 foot wide. So this grass will grow on the ledge but not beyond that. The shallow area of the pond that is gradual slope has the grass growing everywhere, and that is because again the max depth is 7 to 8 feet. You can see in the pictures that along the shore as you wade out from inches to feet in depth the grass thins out as the water gets deeper.
FLOWER/SEED: I've never seen this grass flower, nor have I seen any seeds. Now again no botanist here, but I never see seedpods as you would with Iris or flowers as you would with flowering plants. Just plain old grass.
I've tried to take some pictures that may help in identifying this plant. OH and I think it can grow out of the water as well. I will have to verify this but I know close the pond I have seen it grow and not in the water.
Pulling it out is easy. Just grab near the base and an easy tug and it comes right out roots and all.
Lastly, the fish love it. The perch and CNBG and RES all swim among it.
Anyone know what this is? If I need better pictures or anything let me know.
And in this pic I GIMPed three pics together but now realize a fourth pic is missing so you can see where that pic should have gone. But you see how in the super shallow area far right that is maybe 1-3 feet deep the grass grows a lot. And then as you see the water area where the grass is "laying over" that depth is 4-5 feet. And if you look close in the water you can see beneath the surface a "mat of grass" and that depth is 6' or more.
