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Curly pondweed

Potamogeton crispus

Also called Curled pondweed, Curly-leaf pondweed, Curly Leaved Pondweed, Crisp Leaved Pondweed, Crisped Pondweed, Wavy Leaved Pondweed, Crispy Leaved Pondweed

Curly pondweed
Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0

Curly pondweed is a submerged aquatic perennial with wavy, serrated leaves, grown in ponds and water gardens. It is invasive in many regions, so it should not be planted outside its native range.

Family
Potamogetonaceae (Potamogeton family)
Grows as
Aquatic
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Grow fully submerged in pond water; it needs no watering beyond keeping it in water.
Soil
Rhizomes root in pond mud or a heavy aquatic planting medium in the pond base.
Temperature
Tolerates cool to mild temperatures; dies back in late summer and overwinters as turions and rhizomes.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Old World
Climate
subtropical

About

Potamogeton crispus, the crisp-leaved pondweed, curly pondweed, curly-leaf pondweed or curled pondweed, is a species of aquatic plant (hydrophyte) native to Eurasia but an introduced species and often a noxious weed in North America.

How to grow it

Potamogeton crispus is sometimes cultivated as a pond plant, and generally makes a good garden plant. Since it starts to die back rather early, it is recommended to cut it back in July after it has flowered. In common with other pondweeds of this group it roots poorly from stem cuttings and is best propagated by division of the rhizomes or from turions. As it has proved invasive in some areas, curly pondweed should not be grown outside its native range.

Where it grows

Potamogeton crispus is native to a wide range of countries in Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam); Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and Europe. It has been introduced to the Americas and New Zealand.

Other Potamogeton plants

Alpine pondweed · Small Pondweed · Fen Pondweed · Grass-wrack pondweed · Little-leaf pondweed · Pondweed · Waterthread pondweed · Ribbonleaf pondweed · Variableleaf pondweed · Illinois pondweed · Potamogeton ×inbaensis · Shining Pondweed

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Potamogeton crispus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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