Tennessee Pond Weed
Potamogeton tennesseensis
Found in quiet or flowing water. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 65%
- Light
- 4 or more hours of direct sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 4 Virginia counties.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 88 animals.
- Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Tree SwallowTachycineta bicolor
- Tufted TitmouseBaeolophus bicolor
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensis
- White-throated SparrowZonotrichia albicollis
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Wilson's SnipeGallinago delicata
- Wood DuckAix sponsa
- Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
- Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus varius
- Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
- Yellow-crowned Night-heronNyctanassa violacea
- Yellow-rumped WarblerDendroica coronata
Who uses this plant?
7CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Potamogeton
- Elophila gyralisWaterlily Borer Moth
- Elophila icciusalisPondside Pyralid, Pondside Crambid
- Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
- Parapoynx allionealisWatermilfoil Leafcutter, Bladderwort Casemaker
- Parapoynx badiusalisChestnut-Marked Pondweed Moth
- Parapoynx obscuralisObscure Pondweed Moth
- Parapoynx seminealisFloating-Heart Waterlilly Moth, Waterlily Casebearer
23BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Potamogeton
- Aix sponsaWood Duck
- Anas acutaNorthern Pintail
- Anas creccaGreen-winged Teal
- Anas platyrhynchosMallard
- Aythya affinisLesser Scaup
- Aythya americanaRedhead
- Aythya collarisRing-necked Duck
- Aythya marilaGreater Scaup
- Aythya valisineriaCanvasback
- Bucephala clangulaCommon Goldeneye
Show all 23
- Cygnus buccinatorTrumpeter Swan
- Cygnus columbianusTundra Swan
- Cygnus olorMute Swan
- Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
- Mareca americanaAmerican Wigeon
- Mareca penelopeEurasian Wigeon
- Mareca streperaGadwall
- Melanitta perspicillataSurf Scoter
- Oxyura jamaicensisRuddy Duck
- Polysticta stelleriSteller's Eider
- Porzana carolinaSora
- Somateria fischeriSpectacled Eider
- Spatula clypeataNorthern Shoveler
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Potamogetonaceae
- Flower color
- Green
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Green” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- primary_flower_color · “green” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G2G3 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications
















