''Stuckenia pectinata'' ( syn. ''Potamogeton pectinatus''), commonly called sago pondweed or fennel pondweed, and sometimes called ribbon weed, is a

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

water plant species that grows in fresh and brackish water on all continents except

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

Description

''Stuckenia pectinata'' is a fully submerged

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

and does not have any floating or emerged leaves. The flowers are wind pollinated and the seeds float.

Tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate (survive winter or dry months), provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduc ...

s that are rich in starch are formed on the rhizomes.

Reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. There are two forms of reproduction: Asexual reproduction, asexual and Sexual ...

can either be vegetative with tubers and plant fragments or sexual with seeds.

Wildlife

The whole plant provides food for different species of waterbirds.

Description

Image:PotamogetonPectinatus2.jpg, Leaves with the typical zigzag-formed stem Image:Tubers.jpg, Tubers ''Stuckenia pectinata'' has long narrow linear leaves which are less than 2 mm wide; each is composed of two slender, parallel tubes. The main difference from other narrow-leaved pondweeds is that the

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

joins the leaf base, when it is pulled the sheath and stipule comes away, similar to a grass sheath and

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above g ...

. The fruits are 3 to 5 mm long.

Ecology

The nutritious tubers are an important food source for waterfowl, including the canvasback, which help disperse the plant. The plant can become a nuisance

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

in waterways such as canals, because it is tolerant to

eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

Gallery

File:Stuckenia_pectinata_070830_Vladivostok.jpg

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Stuckenia pectinata''
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15606369, from2=Q163351 Potamogetonaceae Flora of temperate Asia Flora of tropical Asia Flora of Africa Flora of Northern America Flora of Central America Flora of Southern America Flora of Europe Aquatic plants