Common Aquatic Plants Found in Myers Lake
NATIVE PLANTS
Most are considered "desirable" by DNR for fish and wildlife and therefore, eligible for limited herbicide treatment.
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Potamogeton -Pondweeds
A genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater plants. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may also be called pondweed.
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"Potamogeton is one of the most important genera in the aquatic environment, especially as food or habitat for aquatic animals (R. R. Haynes 1975). A few species become slightly weedy, but not significantly so. Plants of Potamogeton are important in stabilizing substrates and removing particulate matter from the water column."
Gritty, bristly feel due to mineral deposits on leaf surfaces; emits a strong musky odor when crushed; is sometimes mistaken for coontail or milfoil, but chara has a lighter green color than most other aquatic plants.
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Stabilizes bottom sediments; provides food for waterfowl and cover for fish. Chara also supports insects and other small aquatic animals, which are important foods for trout, bluegills, small mouth bass, and largemouth bass.
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Chara is quickly becoming a nuisance in Myers Lake and we are hopeful DNR will allow us to be more aggressive in our treatment plan.
Grow entirely below water surface; have long, waving stems in deep water and are dense and bushy in shallow water. These are annual plants which must start from seed each year.
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Entire plants are eaten by waterfowl, especially mallards; provide cover for young largemouth bass, northern pike, small bluegills and perch.
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In most areas, it will not be a nuisance and is best left alone--removal may allow less-desirable plants to move in.
Eel grass seeds, roots and leaves are consumed by ducks and other waterfowl; while its dense underwater structures provides an excellent habitats for invertebrates and fish.
INVASIVE PLANTS
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There are typically four feather-like, deeply-dissected leaves whorled around the stems with 12 or more uniform (in diameter) leaflets on each half of the leaf.
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Can easily be confused with native milfoil species that also may have four deeply-dissected leaves per whorl. As a general rule, Eurasian watermilfoil typically has more than 14(12-20) leaflet pairs per leaf.
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Eurasian milfoil is effectively controlled with the herbicide ProcellaCOR.
Starry stonewort (SSW) is a macroalgae from the family Characeae that closely resembles a vascular plant. It originated in Eurasia, where it is considered to be an endangered species, and entered the US sometime in the 1970s. It invades lakes, ponds, and slow-moving water bodies wehre it attaches to the sediment using rhizoids, and grows up to 2 meters. (Kipp et al., 2017)
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Since it is a macroalgae, herbicides used in the lake to treat other aquatic plants are not effective. To date, there is not effective treatment to eradicate it once it has gotten established.
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As of 2023, it has been detected in other Marshall County lakes, but not in Myers Lake. However, it is probably just a matter of time before we find it here. Good video here to help with identification.
Easily identified by the wavy, lasagna-like leaves that grow approximately a half-inch wide and two to three inches long. Leaves have an obvious mid-vein, “toothed” or serrated edges and blunt tips.
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Emerges early in the season so typically treated at the same time as Eurasian milfoil.
This plant has the ability to produce as many as two million seeds in a growing season, creating dense stands that outcompete native plants for habitat. These populations result in changes to ecosystem functions, including reduced nesting sites, shelter, and food for birds, as well as an overall decline in biodiversity.
Invasive phragmites (Phragmites australis subsp. australis) or common reed is a tall, perennial grass that aggressively colonizes and forms dense stands in freshwater wetlands. Invasive phragmites harms the environment by reducing wildlife habitats, decreasing plant diversity, and altering water levels by trapping sediments.