Practical
Plants

Potamogeton crispus

Curly Pondweed

a perennial member of the Potamogeton genus in the family Potamogetonaceae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Life cycle
perennial
Growth rate
vigorous
Flower type
hermaphrodite

Uses

Edible uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Young leaves - cooked[2][4][5]. Root[5]. No more details are given.

Plant part
Leaves
Plant part
Root

Environment

Range
Europe, including Britain, to Asia.
Habitat
Lakes, ponds, streams, canals etc[3]. Found in fresh and in saline water[8].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
aquatic
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH
acid, neutral, alkaline, very alkaline
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant
Salinity
tolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed in a pot that is standing in its own depth of water in a greenhouse as soon as the seed is ripe if this is possible. Stored seed is likely to have a short viability. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and increase the depth of water around the pot until the plants are covered by a few centimetres of water. Grow the plants on in a sunny position in the greenhouse for their first winter, increasing the depth of water as the plants grow larger. Plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer. Division in spring[9]. Cuttings of erect shoots in the growing season[9].

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

A submerged aquatic plant that can be used as an oxygenator of ponds[1]. It is best given a loam based medium in full sun[7]. It prefers alkaline water[7]. Prefers cool water[6]. A fast growing plant in need of constant checking to make sure it does not overrun the pond[7]. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus, the resulting progeny is usually sterile[7].

References

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

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  2. Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00

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  3. Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00

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  4. Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169

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  5. Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  6. Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-86318-386-7

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  7. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4

  8. Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970-00-00 ISBN 0-486-22642-5

    ↩

  9. Muhlberg. H. Complete Guide to Water Plants. E. P. Publishing Ltd. 1982-00-00 ISBN 0-7158-0789-7

    ↩1↩2

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