It lacks a perennial rhizome and the plants die back in winter into a large number of resting buds known as turions.

Small pondweed is similar to several other Potamogeton species, especially P. pusillus, and use of a good key such as Preston (1995) is strongly recommended.

[2][3] Potamogeton berchtoldii is native to Europe (including Britain, Ireland, continental Europe, Scandinavia), the Middle East, North America (Canada, US), Asia (Bhutan, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Uzbekistan), Asia Minor and the Middle East (Iraq, Iran, Turkey).

[1][9][10] Potamogeton berchtoldii has a wide ecological tolerance,[11] growing in lakes, ponds, ditches, slow-flowing streams and rivers, temporary pools and sometimes appearing in artificial environments such as cattle troughs.

Although it does not occur in very acid environments, small pondweed is otherwise tolerant of a wide range of water chemistry and seems able to survive in eutrophic conditions.

It is the only British fine-leaved pondweed likely to be encountered in oligotrophic lakes, where it generally grows in deeper water with Isoetes and Nitella spp.