# Drainage ditch behind the house x 3



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Copious amounts of this stuff growing, appears to be rooting along a sort of rhizome.
Was tangled up with that horned pondweed from another post


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Finally a Ludwigia. Not much, though.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

No ideas on this. 10 years ago I could have popped open a book and found it. I am getting rusty (hence all the collecting and ID’ing lately.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

davemonkey said:


> No ideas on this. 10 years ago I could have popped open a book and found it. I am getting rusty (hence all the collecting and ID'ing lately.


Looks like a Plantago sp.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

This one , not sure ...could just be runner from something on the bank, but I did see a Saggitaria sp. leaf nearby...floating.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

mistergreen said:


> davemonkey said:
> 
> 
> > No ideas on this. 10 years ago I could have popped open a book and found it. I am getting rusty (hence all the collecting and ID'ing lately.
> ...


Possible. It was underwater, but only slightly so, just along the margin where the water level rises and falls.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

mistergreen said:


> Looks like a Plantago sp.


Definitely. Probably _P. major_. It's edible and I eat a lot of it.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

1st plant is a _Potamogeton_. I'd have to look into which one.

_Ludwigia_ is _L. palustris._


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Many thanks, yet again, mistergreen and Cavan! 
I was thinking P. crispus, but have not looked at all the narrower leaves species yet. Will take some time tomorrow.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

I think I have ruled out P. crispus due to no notable serrations on the leaf margins. Didn't use a lens for it, but literature suggests it should be noticeable. 
And P. richardsonii also a "nope". 
This is harder than I remember. I'll get some better pics and see what I can capture with a hand lens, in case there's anything hiding in the "close-up zone".


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Submerged from 2 views; floating; attempted 10x (camera over hand lens).
There are tiny serrations along the leaf margin, but barely noticeable. They show better with natural eye via hand lens, not so much trying to capture with camera.
Tried to also get stem at leaf.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Leaf joint at stem has...an auricle? On the older leaves, the membrane generally had split into 2 "flaps".


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

This is like keying out native grasses. . .I can feel the pounding at my temples.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

[smilie=l:[QUOTE="Michael, post: 1011589, member: 30231"]This is like keying out native grasses. . .I can feel the pounding at my temples.[/QUOTE]

It gets even more confusing because one of the sites I read, it suggested that P. crispus may hydridize with other native pond weeds, but that those crosses will seldom resemble crispus. 
It's tricky because we're at the very end our the growing season here, so I don't know if this plant is exhibiting normal characteristics (e.g., not branching along the stems, rounded leaf tips, flattened-yet-still-somewhat-rippled-leaves, etc.). P. crispus shouldn't even be growing, it should be in dormant pine-cone-like "pods" (whatever they are called...starts with a "t").


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

turions


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Cavan Allen said:


> turiuons


Thank you! Are there pictures of these out there? I didn't see any, but I got the impression they look much like a seed-head/fruiting structure?
Or maybe I have been mistaking them for the "seeds" of the pond weeds?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

davemonkey said:


> Thank you! Are there pictures of these out there? I didn't see any, but I got the impression they look much like a seed-head/fruiting structure?
> Or maybe I have been mistaking them for the "seeds" of the pond weeds?


I believe it's a buried root structure.


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