Coontail Facts
Coontail Facts
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Interesting Coontail Facts: |
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Coontail can reach 3 to 10 feet in length. It has elongated stem with numerous side shoots which create impression of large, bushy mass. |
Coontail does not have root and it floats freely. It often grows in dense colonies. |
Coontail produces leaves arranged in whorls of 6 to 12. Leaves are elongated, simple or divided in 2 to 8 filaments with toothed edges. They are olive-green colored and have stiff, bristly texture. |
Coontail is monoecious plant, which means that individual male and female flowers develop on the same stem. Flowers of coontail are small, brown-green colored. They grow from the axils of leaves. |
Coontail blooms during the summer and autumn. Unlike other aquatic plants which open their flowers above water, coontail performs pollination under the water with a help of water currents. Male flowers release pollen which travels toward the bottom of the water and falls on the surface of female flowers on its way down. |
Fruit of coontail is small, ovoid, slightly flattened, single-seeded achene with three spines on the surface. |
Coontail propagates via seed, fragmentation of the stem and turions (overwintering buds). |
Coontail floats on the surface of the water during the warm months of the years and sinks to the bottom during the winter. |
Fruit of coontail is important source of food for ducks, while waterfowls and grass carp eat entire plant. |
Coontail provides shelter for numerous animals (fish, snails, insects...) throughout the year. Fish like to spawn among dense, filamentous leaves of coontail. |
Coontail releases substances which prevent growth of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria. |
Branches of coontail covered with leaves create impression of raccoon's tail, hence the name "coontail". |
Scientific name of the plant "Ceratophyllum" originates from two Greek words: "keras" which means "horn" and "phyllum" which means "leaf". Name refers to the horned edges of leaves of this plant. |
Coontail is used in decorative purposes in cold and tropical aquariums. It is also used in the aquatic gardens to increase production of oxygen in the water. |
Coontail is perennial plant, which means that it can survive more than 2 years in the wild. |
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