Wildflower (forb) · Potamogetonaceae
Waterthread pondweed
Potamogeton diversifolius
Waterthread pondweed is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 749 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Waterthread pondweed at a glance
- Native in
- 749 counties, across 39 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 3.2 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Waterthread pondweed is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 749 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 749 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 41 counties
- Arizona 1 county
- Arkansas 17 counties
- California 15 counties
- Colorado 3 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- Florida 28 counties
- Georgia 30 counties
- Idaho 4 counties
- Illinois 53 counties
- Indiana 20 counties
- Kansas 13 counties
- Kentucky 46 counties
- Louisiana 39 counties
- Maryland 2 counties
- Minnesota 7 counties
- Mississippi 14 counties
- Missouri 51 counties
- Montana 3 counties
- Nebraska 3 counties
- Nevada 1 county
- New Jersey 13 counties
- New Mexico 2 counties
- New York 23 counties
- North Carolina 65 counties
- Ohio 6 counties
- Oklahoma 4 counties
- Oregon 3 counties
- Pennsylvania 37 counties
- South Carolina 26 counties
- South Dakota 6 counties
- Tennessee 31 counties
- Texas 60 counties
- Vermont 2 counties
- Virginia 41 counties
- West Virginia 23 counties
- Wisconsin 13 counties
- Wyoming 1 county
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3.2 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 12 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 7.7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 0 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Red
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Potamogetonaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- PODI
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Potamogeton diversifolius (PLANTS symbol PODI).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources