ADIRONDACK RESEARCH GUIDEBOOK

Charophyta is a division of freshwater green algae. The terrestrial plants, the Embryophyta emerged within Charophyta, with the class Zygnematophyceae as a sister group. With the cladistic inclusion of the Embryophyta, the Charophyta is synonymous with the Streptophyta.. The sister group of the Charophytes are the Chlorophyta. Basal Chlorophyta are the Mesostigmatophyceae, the Chlorokybophyceae and an unnamed clade containing the remainder of the Charophyta. Some charophyte groups, such as less ↑

The Chinese mystery snail, black snail, or trapdoor snail, scientific name Bellamya chinensis, synonym Cipangopaludina chinensis, is a large freshwater snail with gills and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Viviparidae. The Japanese variety of this species is black and usually a dark green, moss-like alga covers the shell. less ↑

The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is a small freshwater mussel. This species was originally native to the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, being first described in 1769 by the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in the Ural, Volga, and Dnieper rivers. However, the zebra mussel has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas, and has become an invasive species in many different countries worldwide. Since the 1980s, they have invaded the Great Lakes and the... less ↑

Bythotrephes longimanus (formerly Bythotrephes cederstroemii), or the spiny water flea, is a planktonic crustacean less than 15 millimetres (0.6 in) long. It is native to fresh waters of Northern Europe and Asia, but has been accidentally introduced and widely distributed in the Great Lakes area of North America since the 1980s. Bythotrephes is typified by a long abdominal spine with several barbs which protect it from predators. less ↑

Cercopagis pengoi, or the fishhook waterflea, is a species of planktonic cladoceran crustaceans that is native in the brackish fringes of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. In recent decades it has spread as an invasive species to some freshwater waterways and reservoirs of Eastern Europe and to the brackish Baltic Sea. Further it was introduced in ballast water to the Great Lakes of North America and a number of adjacent lakes, and has become... less ↑

Ceratophyllum is a cosmopolitan genus of flowering plants including four accepted species in 2016, commonly found in ponds, marshes, and quiet streams in tropical and in temperate regions. It is the only genus in the family Ceratophyllaceae, itself the only family in the order Ceratophyllales. They are usually called coontails or hornworts, although hornwort is also used for unrelated plants of the division Anthocerotophyta. less ↑

Persicaria amphibia (syn. Polygonum amphibium) is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by several common names, including longroot smartweed, water knotweed, water smartweed, and amphibious bistort. It is native to much of North America, Asia, Europe, and parts of Africa, and it is known elsewhere as an introduced species and sometimes a noxious weed. less ↑

Menyanthaceae is a family of aquatic and wetland plants in the order Asterales. There are approximately 60-70 species in five genera distributed worldwide. The simple or compound leaves arise alternately from a creeping rhizome. In the submersed aquatic genus Nymphoides, leaves are floating and support a lax, umbellate or racemose inflorescence. In other genera the inflorescence is erect and consists of one (e.g., Liparophyllum) to many flowers. The sympetalous, insect-pollin less ↑

Lobelia dortmanna (Dortmann's cardinalflower or water lobelia) is an aquatic stoloniferous herbaceous perennial aquatic plant with basal rosettes, and flower stalks growing to 70–200 cm tall. The flowers are 1–2 cm long, with a five-lobed white to pale pink or pale blue corolla, produced one to ten on an erect raceme held above the water surface. The fruit is a capsule 5–10 mm long and 3–5 mm wide, containing numerous small seeds. less ↑

Utricularia, commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species (precise counts differ based on classification opinions; a 2001 publication lists 215 species). They occur in fresh water and wet soil as terrestrial or aquatic species across every continent except Antarctica. Utricularia are cultivated for their flowers, which are often compared with those of snapdragons and orchids, especially amon less ↑

Utricularia inflata, commonly known as the swollen bladderwort, inflated bladderwort, or large floating bladderwort, is a large suspended aquatic carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is a perennial that is native to the southeastern coastal plains of the United States. It has often been confused with U. radiata, which is similar but smaller than U. inflata. Since 1980, U. inflata has been reported to exist in lo less ↑

Utricularia vulgaris (greater bladderwort or common bladderwort) is an aquatic species of bladderwort found in Asia and Europe. The plant is a free-floating and does not put down roots. Stems can attain lengths of over one metre in a single growing season, but die back and form turions in winter. The leaves are finely pinnately divided, between one and eight centimetres long and carry many bladder-like traps. The yellow flowers are borne on stalks above the... less ↑

Utricularia purpurea, the eastern purple bladderwort, is a medium-sized suspended aquatic carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. U. purpurea is endemic to North and Central America. It has been suggested that U. purpurea may have partially lost its appetite for carnivory. Richards (2001) did an extensive study in the field on it and noted that trapping rates of the usual Utricularia prey were significantly lower than in other spec less ↑

Nymphaeaceae /ˌnɪmfiːˈeɪsiː/ is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains five genera with about 70 known species. Water lilies are rooted in soil in bodies of water, with leaves and flowers floating on or emergent from the surface. The leaves are round, with a radial notch in Nymphaea and Nuphar, but fully circular in Victoria and less ↑

Myriophyllum sibiricum is a species of water milfoil known by the common names shortspike watermilfoil, northern watermilfoil, and Siberian water-milfoil. It is native to Russia, China, and much of North America, where it grows in aquatic habitat such as ponds and streams. It generally grows over a meter long, its green stem drying white. It is lined with whorls of fanlike green leaves divided into many narrow, feathery lobes. The erect inflorescence is a spike less ↑

Schoenoplectus acutus (syn. Scirpus acutus, Schoenoplectus lacustris, Scirpus lacustris subsp. acutus), called tule /ˈtuːliː/, common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the plant family Cyperaceae, native to freshwater marshes all over North America. The common name derives from the Nāhuatl word tōllin , and was first applied by the early settlers from New less ↑

Schoenoplectus subterminalis is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names water bulrush, water club-rush, and swaying bulrush. It is native to North America, where it is known from many parts of the Canada and the United States. It has been common in the northeastern US and eastern Canada as well as the Great Lakes region, as well as many locations in the mountains of the West, though apparently absent... less ↑

Dulichium is a monotypic genus of sedge containing the single species Dulichium arundinaceum, which is known by the common name threeway sedge. This is an aquatic or semi-aquatic plant of the lakes, streams, and ponds of the United States and Canada It has a wide distribution across the two countries, though noticeably absent from the Dakotas and from the Southwestern Deserts. less ↑

Eleocharis parvula is a species of spikesedge known by the common names dwarf spikerush, small spikerush and hairgrass in aquaria. It is a plant of brackish and saltwater habitat, such as marshes and mudflats. It is a perennial herb growing tufts of spongy, compressible stems not more than 10 centimeters tall. The plant grows from a tuber which is J-shaped or horseshoe-shaped, a characteristic that helps in the identification of the species. The inflorescence is less ↑

Sparganium americanum, American bur-reed, is a perennial plant found in the United States of America and Canada. Though this species resembles a grass, it is a type of bur-reed. This species is important for conservation purposes because it has the ability to remove nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from water, like many other wetland species. By doing this it protects waterways from excess nitrogen which can cause eutrophication. This increased nitrogen is especially a problem less ↑

Sparganium angustifolium is a species of flowering plant in the cat-tail family known by the common names floating bur-reed and narrowleaf bur-reed. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It is an aquatic plant, growing in water up to 2.5 meters deep. Its habitat includes acidic, low-nutrient freshwater bodies such as ponds, lakes, slow-moving streams, and ditches. It can become abundant, practically less ↑

Typha /ˈtaɪfə/ is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have many common names, in British English as bulrush, or reedmace, in American English as cattail, punks, or corn dog grass, in Australia as cumbungi or bulrush, in Canada as bulrush or cattail, and in New Zealand as raupō. Other taxa of plants may be known as bulrush, including some sedges in less ↑

Iris pseudacorus, the yellow flag, yellow iris, or water flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Its specific epithet pseudacorus means "false acorus", referring to the similarity of its leaves to those of Acorus calamus (sweet flag), as they have a prominently veined mid-rib and sword-like shape. However, the two plants are not closely related. less ↑

Elodea nuttallii is a species of waterweed known by the common name western waterweed or Nuttall's waterweed. This is a perennial aquatic plant which is native to North America where it grows submersed in lakes, rivers, and other shallow water bodies. It is also found in Eurasia, where it is commonly weedy; it is not known as a weed species in its native range. It is sometimes used as an aquarium plant. less ↑

Najas flexilis is an aquatic annual plant native to parts of North America and Europe. It is native to northern and Central Europe from Norway to Ireland to Switzerland, and from there across Russia and Siberia. It is also considered native throughout most of Canada, and the northern United States in disjunct populations in southern California, Arizona, Missouri, South Carolina and Utah. Its common names include slender naiad and nodding waternymph. less ↑

Najas gracillima, the slender waternymph, is a submerged aquatic plant species found in lakes and streams. It is native to China (Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang), Russian Far East (Amur and Khabarovsk), Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Iran, Alberta, Ontario, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, the eastern United States (every state east of the Mississippi River except Florida, plus Minnesota, Iowa, Mi less ↑

Najas minor, known as brittle naiad or brittle waternymph, is an annual aquatic plant, a submersed herb. It is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa from the Netherlands to Morocco east to Japan and the Philippines, including China, Siberia, Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, Ukraine, Germany, France Italy and a host of other countries. It is now introduced to North America and considered a weedy invasive species in the eastern half of the United States from... less ↑

Vallisneria americana, commonly called wild celery, water-celery, tape grass, or eelgrass, is a plant in the family Hydrocharitaceae, the "tape-grasses". V. americana is a fresh water species that can tolerate salt, living in salinities varying from fresh water (0 parts per thousand) to 18 parts per thousand, although the limit to the salt tolerance is unclear, and is generally dependent on the duration and intensity of the plants exposure t less ↑

Hydrilla (waterthyme) is a genus of aquatic plant, usually treated as containing just one species, Hydrilla verticillata, though some botanists divide it into several species. It is native to the cool and warm waters of the Old World in Asia, Africa and Australia, with a sparse, scattered distribution; in Australia from Northern Territory, Queensland, and New South Wales. less ↑

Potamogeton foliosus is a species of aquatic plant known by the common name leafy pondweed. It is native to nearly all of North America and parts of Central America, where it grows in water bodies such as ponds, lakes, ditches, and slow-moving streams. It has been reported from every state in the United States except Hawaii as well as from every Canadian province and territory except Newfoundland and Nunavut. less ↑

Potamogeton richardsonii is a species of aquatic plant known by the common name Richardson's pondweed. It is native to much of northern North America, including all of Canada and the northern and western United States. It grows in water bodies such as ponds, lakes, ditches, and streams. This perennial herb grows a narrow, mostly unbranched stem from a mat of rhizomes in the substrate. It reaches about a meter in maximum length. The leaves are up... less ↑

Heteranthera dubia is a species of aquatic plant known by the common names water stargrass and grassleaf mudplantain. It is native to North and Central America where it is widespread from Canada to Guatemala. It lives submersed in freshwater such as rivers and lakes. It is quite variable in appearance. The leaves are different sizes and shapes across individuals, partly genetic variation and partly response to water conditions, for example, the speed and turbulence of less ↑

Isoetales, formerly also written Isoëtales, is an order of plants in the class Isoetopsida. There are about 140-150 living species, all of which are classified in the genus Isoetes (quillworts), with a cosmopolitan distribution, but often scarce to rare. Living species are mostly aquatic or semi-aquatic, and are found in clear ponds and slowly moving streams. Each leaf is slender and broadens downward to a swollen base up to 5 mm wide where the leaves attach in... less ↑

Isoetes echinospora, also known as spiny quillwort, spiny-spored quillwort or spring quillwort is a species of quillwort in the Isoetaceae family, and is the most abundant species in Canada. It can be found in shallow aquatic environments from Labrador and Newfoundland to Alaska, and south to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Colorado, and California. In Germany it is found in only 2 locations: the Feldsee and Lake Titisee, both in the High Black Forest. It bears 10-30 g less ↑

Chara is a genus of charophyte green algae in the family Characeae. They are multicellular and superficially resemble land plants because of stem-like and leaf-like structures. They are found in fresh water, particularly in limestone areas throughout the northern temperate zone, where they grow submerged, attached to the muddy bottom. They prefer less oxygenated and hard water and are not found in waters where mosquito larvae are present. They are covered with calcium carbonate depo less ↑

Didymosphenia geminata, commonly known as didymo or rock snot, is a species of diatom that produces nuisance growths in freshwater rivers and streams with consistently cold water temperatures and low nutrient levels. It is native to the northern hemisphere, and considered an invasive species in Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, and Chile. Even within its native range, it has taken on invasive characteristics since the 1980s. It is not considered a significant human he less ↑