Vallisneria (americana)

John M. Englert USDA NRCS - Norman A. Berg National Plant Materials Center Bldg. 509, BARC - East, E. Beaver Dam Road Beltsville, Maryland 20705 (301) 504-8175 (301) 504-8741 (fax) john.englert@wdc.usda.gov http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/mdpmc/

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Family Scientific Name:	Hydrocharitaceae
Family Common Name:	Frog's bit family
Scientific Name:	Vallisneria americana Michx.
Common Name:	American wild celery
Species Code:	VALAME
Ecotype:	Gunpowder River near Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
General Distribution:	American wild celery is a perennial submerged aquatic, found primarily in fresh water (although it can tolerate moderately brackish water) throughout eastern North America, from Canada west to Minnesota and South Dakota and south to the Gulf of Mexico. It grows on soils from gravel to hard clay, but does best on silty sand in water with anywhere from slightto vigorous currents.
Propagation Goal:	plants
Propagation Method:	seed
ProductType:	Container (plug)
Time To Grow:	4 Months
Target Specifications:	Plants are grown in containers, but are used as bareroot transplants or with little soil clinging to roots and stolons. Plants are considered to be transplant ready when roots have spread throughout the pot and new shoots are developing. We do not have a target plant height, although many plants, when ready for transplanting, have leaves longer than 30 cm. <br><br>
Propagule Collection:	Seed: We collect green seed pods from plants in early fall (Sept-Oct) from stock plants maintained in our greenhouse or in outdoor tanks because of state restrictions on harvesting material in the wild; seeds for stock plants were originally collected from wild plants prior to implementation of a permitting process. Seed pods are ready if we can break them open and observe that many of the seeds inside are dark brown and hard. Vegetative: We break small plantlets/rosettes off the end of stock plant stolons at any time of the year in the greenhouse for replanting. In late fall, we dig turions (overwintering structures) that also form at the end of stolons from the soil around our stock plants maintained in outdoor tanks. ÿ
Propagule Processing:	Seed: We allow seeds to sit in pods for 1-2 months until pods break down; it is easier to remove seeds from the gel matrix that surrounds them in the pods. It appears that seeds can be stored in tap water at 4 C for up to a year with no loss in viability; after 2 years in storage, we found that germination decreased over 50%. Vegetative: We generally cut any excess lengths of stolon from plantlets or turions, and plant immediately in greenhouse tanks. We do not store these materials in our 4 C cooler, based on past experience: plantlets stored moist (in a moistened paper towel inside a plastic bag) tend to dry out rapidly and those in water still lose color and die; turions stored moist or wet turn black and soft.
Growing Area Preparation/ Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:	We grow seedlings and most of our mature plants in a 5130 L freshwater tank in a greenhouse. Water is continuously flushed through a 2 sponge filter and is maintained in the tank at the depth of 45 cm (which is the maximum depth available in the tank) with the addition of tap water as needed. Water temperature fluctuates with the surrounding air temperature in the greenhouse between 20 and 25 C. Daylength is kept fairly constant, around 14 h. Natural daylength is augmented during the winter months by 5 h of light supplied by four 1000 watt sodium lamps suspended along the center tank, 2.6 m apart and 1.8 m above the tank. The greenhouse is covered with a whitewash solution that provides 30% sunlight shading from mid-April to October. Growing media for seedlings is inexpensive topsoil (enough to fill 5 cm wide x 10 cm deep pots to within 1 cm of top, packed) mixed with 1.2 g of Nutricote slow release fertilizer (18:6:8, 180 day release rate at 25 C). This soil-fertilizer mix is covered with a minimum of 6 mm of washed play sand to reduce algae formation on the growing surface. Filamentous algae tends to be a problem in the tank, and is removed with a hand net when the sponge filter does not adequately capture it. Barley straw bales were unsuccessful in controlling algae, although bacterial treatments were partially successful in breaking down algae. Some of our stock plants are maintained in freshwater outdoor tanks (3 m wide x 3 m long x 45 cm deep). Plants grow in a 10 cm layer of inexpensive topsoil. Water is kept at a constant level; there is no water movement or filtration system used. Water temperature fluctuates with the surrounding air temperature between 5 and 30 C. Leavesand other debris are kept from entering the tanks by a 30% shadecloth stretched over the top of the tanks during the growing season. Algae is removed by hand.
Establishment Phase:	Seed: If water temperature in large tank is not warm enough for rapid germination, we will start seed pots in heavy duty nursery flats (35 cm wide x 50 cm long x 10 cm deep, Kadon Corporation) filled with water and covered with black plastic (germination is best at warmer temps, around 25-30 C). Once seedlings emerge, we place pots back into the larger, deeper tank until they are ready for the field. We plant seeds under the sand layer in containers to prevent emerging seedlings from floating away. Vegetative: We start all vegetative materials in the large greenhouse tank, in the same growing media and containers used for seedlings. We slightly bury plantlets in containers (either just the roots if there are any, or we anchor the base of the plantlet in the soil). We completely bury turions with pointed end oriented up.
Length of Establishment Phase:	Seed: 2-4 weeks for seed germination in large tank, depending on water temperature (between 20 and 25 C); less than 1 week for seed germination when pots are started in Kadon flats (between 25 and 30 C). <p> Vegetative: information not available.<br><br>
Active Growth Phase:	Seed and Vegetative: Plants continue to generate additional root mass and shoots and rhizomes after initial establishment. ÿ
Length of Active Growth Phase:	Seed: 14-16 weeks. <p>Vegetative: information not available.<br><br>
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping:	Seed: Plants started from seeds in February are ready for outplanting on revegetation sites in 16 weeks. Seed and Vegetative: Plants may be placed in coolers of water or covered with wet newspaper for local transport (either same day or overnight).
Other Comments:	Wildlife Value: All parts of the plant are valuable food sources for waterfowl such as the canvasback, redhead, lesser scaup, mallard, widgeon, and swan. The plant also provides habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms. ÿ
References:	Gleason, Henry A. and Arthur Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. 2nd edition. New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY. Hurley, Linda M. 1992. Field Guide to the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation of Chesapeake Bay. US Fish and Wildlife Service. Annapolis, MD. Korschgen, Carl E. and William L. Green. 1988. American wildcelery (Vallisneria americana): Ecological considerations for restoration. Fish and Wildlife Technical Report 19. US Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, D.C.

Citation:

Kujawski, Jennifer L.; Thompson, Randy. 2003. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Vallisneria americana Michx. plants USDA NRCS - Norman A. Berg National Plant Materials Center Beltsville, Maryland. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/04/26). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.