Wildflower (forb) · Potamogetonaceae
Leafy pondweed
Potamogeton foliosus · includes its varieties and subspecies
Leafy pondweed is recorded as native to 51 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 928 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Leafy pondweed at a glance
- Native in
- 928 counties, across 51 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- Not recorded 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.
Leafy pondweed is recorded as native to 51 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 928 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 928 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 9 counties
- Alaska 9 counties
- Arizona 5 counties
- Arkansas 10 counties
- California 39 counties
- Colorado 11 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 1 county
- Georgia 1 county
- Hawaii 4 counties
- Idaho 7 counties
- Illinois 89 counties
- Indiana 31 counties
- Iowa 14 counties
- Kansas 45 counties
- Kentucky 34 counties
- Louisiana 4 counties
- Maine 5 counties
- Maryland 6 counties
- Massachusetts 9 counties
- Michigan 56 counties
- Minnesota 48 counties
- Missouri 48 counties
- Montana 7 counties
- Nebraska 23 counties
- Nevada 7 counties
- New Hampshire 1 county
- New Jersey 11 counties
- New Mexico 10 counties
- New York 44 counties
- North Carolina 3 counties
- North Dakota 15 counties
- Ohio 35 counties
- Oklahoma 10 counties
- Oregon 18 counties
- Pennsylvania 36 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- South Carolina 1 county
- South Dakota 28 counties
- Tennessee 19 counties
- Texas 16 counties
- Utah 15 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 20 counties
- Washington 13 counties
- West Virginia 16 counties
- Wisconsin 57 counties
- Wyoming 13 counties
- Puerto Rico 9 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (POFOF5). “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- Not recorded
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Prostrate
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
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 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Not recorded
- pH range
- 5.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 0 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Potamogetonaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- POFO3
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 foliosus (PLANTS symbol POFO3), including 2 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- 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