[3] This is a perennial aquatic plant which is native to North America where it grows submersed in lakes, rivers, and other shallow water bodies.

It is similar to its relative E. canadensis except that the leaves taper to an acute point.

It has a thin branching stem with whorls of 3–4 (exceptionally, 5) flat leaves at intervals.

[7] It is an invasive species in Europe; it reached Belgium in 1939, the Netherlands in 1941, Germany in 1953, Denmark in 1974, Sweden in 1991 and Norway in 2006.

It is now present in most of Northern Europe, in many parts displacing the invasive Elodea canadensis.