Potamogeton pusillus
species of plant
Potamogeton pusillus is a species of aquatic plant known by the common names small pondweed, lesser pondweed or least pondweed. It occurs in standing and slow-flowing freshwater habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
Description
Lesser pondweed is a superficially grasslike herb producing a very slender, branching, somewhat compressed stem, usually less than 70 cm but occasionally up to one metre in length. Nodal glands, if present, are generally poorly developed. The leaves are narrow and linear, translucent, mid or olive green, usually 20–50 mm long × 0.8–1.4 mm wide, but rarely up to 100 mm long and 1.9 mm wide. The midrib often lacks lacunae (transparent areas either side of the midrib) either side of it, and if present, lacunae are restricted to the lower half of the leaf. There are no floating leaves. The stipules are tubular when young, but tend to split with age.
Turions are produced, often in large quantities. In early autumn the entire plant disintegrates into a mass of turions, which act as a means of propagation and as an overwintering mechanism.
The public source identifies “Potamogeton pusillus” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Potamogeton, pusillus and species.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 2, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q2714349. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Potamogeton pusillus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.