Index / Search / Ceratophyllum demersum

§1 Plant

Ceratophyllum demersum L.

vernacular coon's tail — species · Ceratophyllaceae


USDA
CEDE4
GBIF
2882398
Rank
species
coon's tail (Ceratophyllum demersum)
Platephotograph · chiuluanCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Ceratophyllaceae Gray
Genus
Ceratophyllum
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • PR Puerto Rico Native
  • VI U.S. Virgin Islands Native
§2b

County-level range

· 9 counties across 2 states/territories
Legend Native · 9 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
110 min.
Precipitation
10–55 in/yr
pH range
6–8.6
Root depth
0 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Moderate
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Gray-Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Blue
Fruit colour
White
Fire resistant
Yes
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Summer
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
165,000
Propagation
seed, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 9 counties across 2 states/territories.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CEDE4 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2882398 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z