Budding Pondweed (Potamogeton pusillus ssp. gemmiparus)

2/23/2018 Photo Credit: By N.L. Britton and A. Brown

Global Rank: T3 - Vulnerable
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Potamogetonaceae
State: CT, MA, ME, NH, QC, RI
Nature Serve ID: 151796
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Potamogeton pusillis ssp. gemmiparus, also known as Potamogeton gemmiparus or budding pondweed, is an aquatic plant that grows completely submerged in lakes or slow-moving rivers. Budding pondweed has thread-like leaves that grow up to 2½ inches long. Flowers are formed on stalks and can be above or below the surface of the water. The fruit only contain a single seed and they are very small (less than 1/10th of an inch wide). Budding pond weed can be confused with Potamogeton pusillus and Potamogeton berchtoldii. Budding pondweed tends to have skinnier leaves than the two look-a-like species and it only have one leaf vein, whereas the other two have three or more leaf veins. (New England Wildflower Society, 2018; Wernerehl, 2015) Budding pondweed is only found in upper New England and Quebec, Canada. It is threatened by invasive aquatic species and the herbicides used to control them. As of 2000, is was considered vulnerable or critically imperiled in most of the states in which it occurs, as well as Quebec, and it is possibly extinct in New Hampshire. (NatureServe, 2018; New England Wildflower Society, 2018; USDA and NRCS, 2018; Wernerehl, 2015)

Where is Budding Pondweed (Potamogeton pusillus ssp. gemmiparus) located in the wild?

States & Provinces:

Budding Pondweed can be found in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Quebec, Rhode Island

Which CPC Partners conserve Budding Pondweed (Potamogeton pusillus ssp. gemmiparus)?

Native Plant Trust

Not Sponsored

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

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Budding Pondweed (Potamogeton pusillus ssp. gemmiparus) Characteristics

Nomenclature

Taxon	Potamogeton pusillus ssp. gemmiparus
Authority	(J.W. Robbins) R.R. Haynes & Hellq.
Family	Potamogetonaceae
CPC Number	44908
ITIS	566075
USDA	POPUG4
Duration	Perennial
Common Names	small pondweed
Associated Scientific Names	Potamogeton pusillus ssp. gemmiparus \| Potamogeton berchtoldii subsp. gemmiparus \| Potamogeton gemmiparus \| Potamogeton pusillus var. gemmiparus
Distribution

State Rank

State	State Rank
Connecticut	S1
Massachusetts	S3S4
Maine	SU
New Hampshire	SH
Quebec	S1
Rhode Island	S1

Ecological Relationships

Photos

2/23/2018 Photo Credit: By N.L. Britton and A. Brown

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