About Stuckenia pectinata (L.) Börner
Stuckenia pectinata (L.) Börner is a fully submerged aquatic plant that produces no floating or emerged leaves. Its flowers are pollinated by wind, and its seeds float. Starch-rich tubers develop on the species’ rhizomes. It can reproduce both vegetatively, via tubers and plant fragments, and sexually, via seeds. This species has long, narrow, linear leaves that are less than 2 mm wide; each individual leaf is made up of two slender, parallel tubes. The key difference that separates it from other narrow-leaved pondweeds is how its stipule connects to the leaf base: when the leaf is pulled, the sheath and stipule detach from the plant, a structure similar to the sheath and ligule of grass. Fruits of Stuckenia pectinata measure 3 to 5 mm in length. The species’ nutritious tubers are an important food source for waterfowl, including canvasbacks, and waterfowl also help disperse the plant. Stuckenia pectinata can become a problematic nuisance weed in waterways like canals, as it is tolerant of eutrophication.
