BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Potamogeton epihydrus
ribbon-leaf pondweed
| Scientific Name: | Potamogeton epihydrus Raf. | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | ribbon-leaf pondweed | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vascular Plant | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | POTAEPI | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Sep 2024) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
| Similar Species: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Flowering occurs from June to October, with aerial flowers supported by floating leaves (Les 2020). Seeds are dispersed by water currents and waterfowl. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Potamogeton epihydrus occurs in a wide variety of tidal and non-tidal aquatic habitats, including "bogs, brooks (floodplain), canals (slow flowing), channels (boat), depressions, ditches (irrigation), floodplains, gravel pits (roadside), lakes (seepage), marshes, meadows, ponds (beaver, bog, muskeg, oxbow), pools (brook, spill), reservoirs, rivers, sloughs (peaty), and streams" (Les 2020). It is commonly found in full sunlight and adapted to diverse habitats, from near sea level to high elevations, and at water depths of 0.05 to 2.9 m. The plant is most common in waters with lower alkalinity and conductivity. | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
| Known Pests: | |||||||||||
| Pollen Vector: |
ABIOTIC
Wind |
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| Pollinator: | |||||||||||
| Dispersal: |
ABIOTIC
BIOTIC Birds Water |
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| Provincial Inventory | |||||||||||
| Inventory Priority: | |||||||||||
| Ownership of occurrences (Known locations): | |||||||||||
| Inventory Need: | |||||||||||
| Economic Attributes | |||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Potamogeton epihydrus is a widespread species in North America, occurring from Alaska through southern Canada and much of the United States, excluding Arizona east through Arkansas and north through Nebraska (FNA 2000). It also occurs in Europe as a native species (POWO 2024). Range extent was estimated to be over 25 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens and photo-based observations documented between 1993 and 2024 (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, SEINet 2024). | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | N. Ventrella (2024) | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Sep 27, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| Last Literature Search: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Les, D. 2020. Aquatic Monocotyledons of North America: Ecology, Life History, and Systematics. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 568 pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2024. Species Summary: Potamogeton epihydrus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).