Habitats: The Pond

The Woodland Pond was created by a dam where the water pauses before spilling over to Poorhouse Brook and running south to Long Island Sound.  A pond is a water body small enough that its waves do not erode the soil on its banks and shallow enough for aquatic plants to root in the bottom and still reach the surface.  If your visit is in the summer you will notice the round leaves and pale pink flowers of Pond Lilies (Nuphar advea) in the middle and the arrow-shaped leaves of Arrow Arum (Peltandra verginica) around the edges.  When the Arrow Arum flower has gone to seed the weight of the seeds bends the stalk over and it sinks into the muddy bottom; in this way the seeds plant themselves. 

Also during summer, colonies of green algae tangle together and float in masses near the pond’s surface.  Duckweed (Lemna sp.) is a tiny flowering plant with two leaves that float on the surface.   The Duckweek shades the water below from the warm summer sun and helps keep the water cool.  Cool water can hold more oxygen so the pond is healthy in the summer with an almost continuous cover of Duckweed.  Look for frogs’ eyes poking up through rafts of Duckweed.