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Floating Pondweed

Potamogeton natans

Found in lakes, ponds, and slow streams. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

35
Good

Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 100%

Height
2–4 feet
Light
Full sun
Soil moisture
Standing water
Will it fit your yard?

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
Bloom
June to September
Fruiting season
Summer to fall

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

County records are not available.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV

Genus host records with ranges including WV · Potamogeton

  • Elophila icciusalisPondside Pyralid, Pondside Crambid
  • Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
  • Parapoynx allionealisWatermilfoil Leafcutter, Bladderwort Casemaker
  • Parapoynx badiusalisChestnut-Marked Pondweed Moth
  • Parapoynx obscuralisObscure Pondweed Moth
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Potamogetonaceae
Flower color
Green
Growth rate
Rapid
Growth habit
Spreads by rhizomes
Foliage color
Green
Fruit begins
Summer
Fruit ends
Fall
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Floating Pond Weed

Conservation status

West Virginia rankS2
Global rankG5
WV statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

Will it fit your yard?

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How to check your spot

Growing cautions

  • Spreads by rhizomes. USDA PLANTS lists its growth form as rhizomatous. USDA PLANTS

For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.

Sources