By Dana Little
Taylor Pond hosts a diverse range of aquatic flowering plants. People often ask if these green “weeds” are overtaking the pond. These plants have lived in our pond for thousands of years, appearing here after the glaciers retreated 10,000 years ago. Most are flowering plants, not algae, which do not flower and are more abundant in salt water. One notable flowering species is the Fragrant Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata). I enjoy swimming up next to the flower and inhaling the pleasant scent.

Most flowering plants in Taylor Pond lack the spectacular flowers of Fragrant Water Lily. More commonly they have small green flowers that are easy to miss and difficult to appreciate. Perfoliate Pondweed (Potamogeton perfoliatus) is a typical representative. It grows in shallow water, up to 12 feet long, and its green flower hardly pokes above water when fully grown.

Perfoliate Pondweed (Potamogeton perfoliatus) with flower at the tip.
Michael Heskanen and I perform a yearly census of the plants of Taylor Pond looking for invasive species. You may see us slowly cruising the shoreline in the summer peering into the water. In 2024 we found over forty different species of flowering plants. Most importantly, we found no invasive plants. The most common invasive plant in Maine is Variable Leaf Milfoil. This plant grows up to 12 feet in length and can form dense mats on the surface that can impair boating, fishing, and swimming. The introduction of a single fragment can result in the infestation of the entire pond.
Many of the surrounding waters, including Lake Auburn and the Basin, Thompson Lake and others, have invasive plants. Maine recommends that boat owners moving between bodies of water carefully clean off any mud or plants from the boat and trailer, drain off any water from the boat and motor, and allow the trailer and boat to dry in the sun to kill any invasive plants or animals.
People often ask me if they can remove plants from in front of their property. Maine allows homeowners to hand-remove vegetation in an area 10 feet wide and perpendicular from their shoreline out into the lake. This allows a place to swim and a passage for boats. To do this, Maine requires a “Permit by Rule” from the DEP.
Finally, I feel compelled to share with you one of my favorite aquatic plants, Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata). The purple flowers often line the shore in July and August. They make living on a pond in Maine a great blessing. Besides being beautiful, aquatic flowering plants provide places for fish to hide, consume the carbon dioxide that we exhale and produce the oxygen that we breathe.
Dana Little

Pickerel Weed with a background of Button Bush and a foreground of Fragrant Water Lilies.