Wildflower (forb) · Potamogetonaceae
Longleaf pondweed
Potamogeton nodosus
Longleaf pondweed is recorded as native to 47 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 844 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Longleaf pondweed at a glance
- Native in
- 844 counties, across 47 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.
Longleaf pondweed is recorded as native to 47 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 844 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 844 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 5 counties
- Arkansas 16 counties
- California 33 counties
- Colorado 7 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 2 counties
- Georgia 3 counties
- Hawaii 2 counties
- Idaho 10 counties
- Illinois 73 counties
- Indiana 25 counties
- Iowa 11 counties
- Kansas 47 counties
- Kentucky 37 counties
- Louisiana 23 counties
- Maine 9 counties
- Massachusetts 8 counties
- Michigan 25 counties
- Minnesota 31 counties
- Mississippi 4 counties
- Missouri 48 counties
- Nebraska 26 counties
- Nevada 7 counties
- New Hampshire 5 counties
- New Jersey 9 counties
- New Mexico 6 counties
- New York 34 counties
- North Carolina 5 counties
- North Dakota 6 counties
- Ohio 25 counties
- Oklahoma 12 counties
- Oregon 7 counties
- Pennsylvania 38 counties
- South Carolina 1 county
- South Dakota 14 counties
- Tennessee 17 counties
- Texas 84 counties
- Utah 9 counties
- Vermont 5 counties
- Virginia 27 counties
- Washington 7 counties
- West Virginia 15 counties
- Wisconsin 47 counties
- Wyoming 2 counties
- Puerto Rico 15 counties
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
- Not recorded
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Prostrate
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- 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
- 5.8 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- 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
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Potamogetonaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- PONO2
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 nodosus (PLANTS symbol PONO2).
- 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