Wildflower (forb) · Potamogetonaceae
Fineleaf pondweed
Stuckenia filiformis · includes its varieties and subspecies
Fineleaf pondweed is recorded as native to 22 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 202 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Fineleaf pondweed at a glance
- Native in
- 202 counties, across 22 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.
Fineleaf pondweed is recorded as native to 22 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 202 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 202 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 19 counties
- California 7 counties
- Colorado 12 counties
- Idaho 13 counties
- Maine 1 county
- Michigan 38 counties
- Minnesota 10 counties
- Montana 4 counties
- Nebraska 6 counties
- Nevada 4 counties
- New Hampshire 1 county
- New Mexico 1 county
- New York 17 counties
- North Dakota 2 counties
- Oregon 3 counties
- Pennsylvania 5 counties
- South Dakota 13 counties
- Utah 18 counties
- Vermont 2 counties
- Washington 3 counties
- Wisconsin 11 counties
- Wyoming 12 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (STFIF). “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
- 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
- 6 to 8
- 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
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
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
- No Known Source
- Family
- Potamogetonaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- STFI6
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
- Stuckenia filiformis (PLANTS symbol STFI6), including 3 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