Potamogeton obtusifoliusMert. & W.D.J.Koch

Blunt-leaved Pondweedblunt-leaved pondweedbluntleaf pondweed

WFO wfo-0000752882 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Potamogeton obtusifolius, photographed by Lake County AIS
fig. a Lake County AIS, CC0 1.0 / 2021-06-16 / obs. 175935033

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
3714838
Filed as
Potamogeton obtusifolius Mert. & W.D.J.Koch
Det. by
not recorded on this sheet
Collected
not recorded
Origin
not recorded
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 73 botanical countries

Regions where Potamogeton obtusifolius is native: Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, Chita, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, Tuva, West Siberia, Yakutiya, Myanmar, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon AltayAmurBuryatiyaChitaIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskMagadanManchuriaMongoliaTuvaWest SiberiaYakutiyaMyanmarAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyHungaryIcelandIrelandItalyNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSwedenSwitzerlandUkraineAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaConnecticutIdahoMaineManitobaMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNewfoundlandNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaOntarioPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanVermontWashingtonWisconsinWyomingYukon Rhode I.
Native distribution of Potamogeton obtusifolius, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
Connecticut CNT
Idaho IDA
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
Vermont VER
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Austria AUT EUROPE
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Hungary HUN
Iceland ICE
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
Chita CTA
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Yakutiya YAK
Myanmar MYA ASIA-TROPICAL

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 153 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -18.5 °C -9.8 °C 2.5 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 18.1 °C 22.9 °C 26.3 °C
Annual rainfall 514 mm 773 mm 1,356 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 60 mm 121 mm 280 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 153 research-grade observations of Potamogeton obtusifolius that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 29 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Buccaferrea obtusifolia (Mert. & W.D.J.Koch) Bubani
  • Potamogeton divaricatus Wolfg.
  • Potamogeton liljebladii Wallman ex Rchb.
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. acutus Fieber
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. angustifolius (Fieber) Soó
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. angustifolius (Fieber) Rchb.
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. apiculatus Fieber
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. contractus Cham. & Schltdl.
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. elongatus Cham. & Schltdl.
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. insolitus Tiselius
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. insolitus Tiselius
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. latifolius (Fieber) Soó
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. latifolius (Fieber) Rchb.
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. microcarpus Hyl.
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. muticus Fieber
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius f. obtusus Fieber
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius subf. acutus (Fieber) Soó
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius subf. apiculatus (Fieber) Soó
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius subf. muticus (Fieber) Soó
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius subf. obtusus (Fieber) Soó
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius subvar. acutus (Fieber) Graebn.
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius subvar. apiculatus (Fieber) Graebn.
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius subvar. muticus (Fieber) Graebn.
  • Potamogeton obtusifolius subvar. obtusus (Fieber) Graebn.

and 5 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.