Wild celery (Vallisneria americana)

Wild Celery grows fully submerged. Its narrow linear leaves, which can reach 1.5 m in length, spring directly from the root, as the plant has no stems.

Wild Celery is a great favourite for both diving and dabbling duck species. The divers, especially the bluebills, pull up the plant and feed on the stolons and buds, while the dabblers eat the other parts of the plant (the leaves).

Reproduction

Wild Celery is a perennial, due to its stoloniferous rhizomes (short runners). Its main means of reproduction is vegetative, through the formation of buds on its runners. Once winter is past, the buds sprout in spring. Wild Celery grows less densely (fewer plants per unit surface area) in maximum light conditions, but its biomass (number of leaves per plant) increases.

Habitat

Wild Celery prefers deep water, but dense growth can be found beginning at depths of one meter. In clear water, it can grow at depths of up to 7 meters. It can adapt to various substrates (muck, sand, gravel, or rocky bottom). It also tolerates strong currents, but grows poorly in waters where the level of eutrophication (accumulation of organic debris) is high.