Invasive SpeciesEurasian watermilfoil

Myriophyllum spicatum
FOUND by naturlvrs5
2009-10-06
Sanford
ID Questioned
Quality checked by
Peer reviewed by
Field Notes
A sketch of our study site.
We are happy because we are breathing and we are having fun on a quick field trip. When we arrived there was cars, the pond was pretty, and there was green grass. There were sticks in the water near our quadrat and leaves all around. It smelled like dirty pond water and the P.H. was 7.3. A problem we ran into was that we thought we saw a fuzzy thing in the water and it turned out to be a hunk of wood. I'm surprised about what I did or didn't find because two members of our group thought we found a dead crayfish and the other two members of our team thought it was just a weed.
Supporting Evidence
Photo of my evidence.
We think hat we found Eurasian Water Milfoil because we found it under the water and they like it under the water.
Photo of my evidence.
Another reason we think we found this species is because we found it in pond and they like still water and the water we found it in was still.
Photo of my evidence.
The last reason we think we found it is because it has whorled leaves like in the pictures that we looked at.
Species Observation: Species Looked For
Did you find it?: 
I think I found it
Scientific name:
Myriophyllum spicatum
Common name:
Eurasian watermilfoil
Count of individuals: 
1-10
Coverage: 
3/4 - Completely covered
Reproduction: 
Vegetative structures (plants)
How big is it?: 
Greater than 10 cm
Is it male or female?: 
Can't tell
Sampling method: 
Quadrat (user-placement)
Photo of our sampling method.
Place Studied
We\’re sorry, Javascript is required to view the map. You may wish to upgrade to a newer browser in order to view this Google Map.
Map this species
Latitude: 
N 43.447280 °
Longitude: 
W -70.780360 °
Observation Site Information
A photo of our study site.
Name:
naturlvrs5's visit to #1 Pond
Habitat: 
Freshwater - In a pond or lake
Trip Information
Name:
#1 Pond
Trip date: 
Tue, 2009-10-06 10:34
Town or city: 
Sanford
Type of investigation: 
Species and Habitat Survey
Ecosystem: 
Freshwater
Watershed: 
Saco
Sampling Method: 
Quadrat (user-placement)
Nearest waterbody: 
#2 Pond
MIDAS Code: 
3848
Habitat Observations
Species diversity: 
20 different species
Evidence of vectors: 
Paved road
Walking trail
People
Water temperature: 
14.0°C
pH: 
7.0
Dissolved oxygen: 

Comments

Submitted by iSpyaSign on Thu, 2010-03-11 15:16.

Good observation

Thank you so much for the detailed photos, based on the fork divided leaf, I feel confident that this is not Eurasian Milfoil. Its certainly a close relative though. Keep your eyes open, your vigilance is appreciated.

Submitted by vitalsleuth on Fri, 2009-10-23 14:10.

Forks and feathers

Aquatic plant identification can be tricky. You're right that the leaves of the submersed plant you found are arranged in whorls just like Eurasian watermilfoil, BUT take a closer look at the branching pattern of each leaf.

I zoomed in on your photo and saw that they are actually fork-divided. Eurasian watermilfoil has feather-divided leaves. Do you see the difference? I find the diagrams on the species cards really helpful seeing these tiny but critical differences.

Glad you're out there looking for submersed aquatics! Did you throw the weed weasel? Wicked far?!

Submitted by naturlvrs5 on Fri, 2009-10-30 13:10.

Thanks for the comment!!!

Thanks for the comment!!! What do you think it is? We actually found it floating close to the shore!