Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Potamogeton sulcatus

Flowering stem and leaves. Photographer Maartje Sevenster, Gundaroo, NSW

Flowering stems and leaves. Photographer Dusty, Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, ACT

Common name

Pondweed

Family

Potamogetonaceae

Where found

Aquatic in permanent waterbodies. Widespread.

Notes

Aquatic perennial herb, rhizomatous. Stems round to flattened in cross section, up to about 3 m long. Leaves alternating along the stems, with a sheath at the base, hairless. Submerged leaves 6–12 cm long, 12–30 mm wide, thin and translucent, with short stalks, often with slightly wavy margins, tips blunt or tapered. Floating leaves 4–8 cm long, 30–5.5 mm wide, dull, more or less thick and leathery, stalked, with 9–13 main longitudinal veins, transverse secondary veins indistinct, bases rounded to cordate, tips pointed, occasionally blunt. Flowering stems emergent. Flowers 3–4 mm in diameter, with 4 'petals'. Flower spikes about 20–60 flowered, 32–50 mm long (excluding the non-seeding part of the axis) at the seeding stage, and curved down. Flowers and seeds Sep.–Apr. 

All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Potamogeton~sulcatus  (accessed 3 February, 2021)