Pond Stories: Identifying Pond Plants With a Rhyme

Have you ever wondered what that grassy stuff is at the edge of your pond? In this photo of Bassett Pond in Yarmouth, Sue Machie has captured not just a beautiful pond but some healthy rushes (“that grassy stuff”). This rhyme, familiar to many, could help you with beginning to identify what’s growing around your own pond: “Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses have knees that bend to the ground.”
Make sense?

What plants are around your pond?
Purple spikey flowers like this pickerel weed?

Floating lily pads with white flowers like this water lily?

Maybe you have seen these delicate little pink flowers called Rose Tickseed?

Want to learn more flower names and what they do to help ponds stay healthy? Here’s a handy guide to aquatic plants in Massachusetts and our very own guide to some freshwater plants you might see on your next walk!

Got a Pond Story you want to share? Email Kristin Andres at kandres@apcc.org

Pond Stories are a collection of writings from Cape Codders and visitors who love the 1000 local ponds that dot the Cape. We hope this collection of stories, that are as much endearing as they are environmentally aware, will awaken your inner environmentalist to think deeper about our human impacts to these unique bodies of water. Check out these valuable resources to learn more about the current challenges Cape Cod ponds are facing and how you can be a better pond steward in your town.