Elodea canadensis
Canadian Pondweed
a perennial herbaceous member of the Elodea genus in the family Hydrocharitaceae.
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Hydrocharitaceae
- Genus
- Elodea
- Life cycle
- perennial
- Woodiness
- herbaceous
- Fertility
- self sterile
- Flower type
- dioecious
- Flower colours
- white
- Pollinators
- Water
Uses
Medicinal uses
Historical medicinal uses. These records describe reported uses. They do not establish safety or effectiveness. Ask a qualified health professional before using any plant medicinally.
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
An infusion of the plant has been used as a strong emetic[3].
Environment
- Range
- N. America. Naturalized in Britain[1].
- Habitat
- Slow-moving fresh water throughout most of Britain[1].
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- partial shade
- Water
- aquatic
- Hardiness
- Zone 2+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline, very alkaline
- Drainage
- wet
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- False
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Seed - seldom produced in Britain, if it is obtained it should not be allowed to dry out and is best sown immediately in water. Division can be carried out at almost any time in the growing season. Simply break off a bit of plant and place in water - it will soon produce roots. The stem can be weighted with something like a stone and then thrown into a pond to allow the stems to root into the mud.
Cultivation
A floating, submerged plant, growing well in slowly-moving water and also succeeding in ponds[3]. Plants grow more vigorously when able to root into the mud of the pond[2]. This species, when first introduced into British waterways in the mid nineteenth century, spread rapidly to become a great peat, blocking many waterways[1]. It then seemed to lose its vigour and is now widespread but seldom abundant[1]. Most of the plants grown in Britain are a female clone[1]. Plants perennate by means of overwintering buds that sink to the bottom of the pond in the autumn and then commence growing in the spring.
References
Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998-00-00 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Amanda Wenger "The Planted Tank: Planting from the bottom up: substrate" (TFH Magazine Jan 2014 Issue) TFH Publications (2014/01/01)