Lake Vegetation

Plants

Cattails - Stalks stick out of the water several feet and at the top grows a brown cylinder of tightly-packed seeds.

Lake Weeds

Coontail (native) - Grows in the water without roots, structure is somewhat like a Christmas tree branch.

Curly-leaf Pondweed (invasive) - Grows in the water up from the soil.  The sides of each long leaf are wavy.  Forms dense mats in the spring.

Floating Algae

Filamentous green algae - In the water it looks like individual mats of green goo, with visible trapped bubbles.  They are made up of a long strands of algae cells, with those strands matted together.  If picked up with a stick the matting will hang down off the sides.

Blue-green algae - In the lake it looks like a continuous layer of thick green or blueish paint floating on the lake surface.  Despite being commonly called algae it is actually bacteria. If you try to pick it up with a stick, most types will just coat the stick rather without anything hanging down.  Some types can be toxic.  Typically forms in early July due to heat and excessive phosphorus in the water and can produce a swampy odor.