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Elodea canadensis

Common name:	Canadian Pondweed	Family:	Hydrocharitaceae
Author:	Michx.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:	Philotria canadensis ((Michx.)Britton.), Anacharis canadensis (Planch.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	N. America. Naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat:	Slow-moving fresh water throughout most of Britain[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Anacharis canadensis var. planchonii[B,P] E. brandegae[P] E. brandegeeae[B] E. ioensis[B,P] E. linearis[B,P] E. planchonii[B,P] Philotria linearis[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Canadian Waterweed [B,L,P], Common Elodea [L],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	canadensis = northeastern America cana = grayed due to hairs
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Hydrocharitales. Tape-grass family
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmaina, Northen Territory (Aust).

Physical Characteristics

Perennial. . It is in flower from May to October, and the seeds ripen from July to October. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and are pollinated by Water. The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It can grow in water.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

An infusion of the plant has been used as a strong emetic[257].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A floating, submerged plant, growing well in slowly-moving water and also succeeding in ponds[257]. Plants grow more vigorously when able to root into the mud of the pond[200].
This species, when first introduced into British waterways in the mid nineteenth century, spread rapidly to become a great peat, blocking many waterways[17]. It then seemed to lose its vigour and is now widespread but seldom abundant[17].
Most of the plants grown in Britain are a female clone[17].
Plants perennate by means of overwintering buds that sink to the bottom of the pond in the autumn and then commence growing in the spring.

Propagation

Seed - seldom produced in Britain, if it is obtained it should not be allowed to dry out and is best sown immediately in water.
Division can be carried out at almost any time in the growing season. Simply break off a bit of plant and place in water - it will soon produce roots. The stem can be weighted with something like a stone and then thrown into a pond to allow the stems to root into the mud.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for the family Hydrocharitaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Elodea canadensis

Ralf (peace_panther@hotmail.com) Mon Apr 28 08:51:17 2003

One should note that Elodea canadensis is an important food for ducks and other water birds. The plant has two German names which are rather interesting: "Wasserpest" ("water pest") hints to its invasive character, while "Entenflott" ("duck float") is linked to its floating existance on small ponds and its use as duck foot. Ralf

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
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This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Elodea+canadensis
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