Pond/Plant ID help pls

It does look young/immature alligator weed (leaves are opposite each other) - ever see small white flowers? This a good site for aquatic plant ID and control measures.
AquaPlant - Texas A&M

But send the photo to Dr. Chris Mudge, Adjunct Professor, LSU AgCenter - Chris is an aquatic plant researcher and outreach specialist, he’s actually a Federal employee, Corp of Engineers, but holds an adjunct appointment with the AgCenter and he is housed on the LSU campus. LINK. He’ll give you a definitive ID and assist you with appropriate control measures.

The PictureThis app says its alligatorweed.

Thank you guys for your help.

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That’s a cool person or thing to know. I didn’t know people like that you could email and would care enough to help you

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Absolutely - that’s the job of extension/outreach professionals/county agents with Land Grant Universities in all 50 states - they are paid, with your state and federal tax dollars, to assist the public and commercial “agricultural” industries in each state, within reason of course. For example, they aren’t going go spray your weeds or fertilize your lawn, etc., but their job is to provide you with the best available information to assist you.

Dr. Mudge’s position is a little different in that he is a federal employee and not LSU paid employee per se, but in my experience with him, he is very happy and willing to assist stakeholders in aquatic weed management issues.

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The Texas A&M site has some inaccuracies and often recommend at least one incorrect chemical treatment per plant. The University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants has a great website and can certify it’s accurate as an alum. LINK

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You are correct - the the UF’s Center of for Aquatic and Invasive Plants is top notch, best in the country, and I used the site often as well as all their training and educational materials. I checked your link and it looks like they did make some improvements in the web site from the last time I used it, particularly in the area of control measures, which at one time was lacking, and often why I did not frequently direct people to the site.

Texas A&M’s AquaPlant site is geared more toward recreation pond and small lake owners, has been fairly easy to navigate for non-experts, and was/is for quite some time the site many fisheries/aquaculture extension specialists, west of FL anyway, referred stakeholders to because it was kept current and easy to navigate. But the site administrator at A&M, a personal friend and colleague, retired several + years ago and it’s possible the site may not be updated and reviewed for accuracy as frequently as it once was - it’s is not a good when labeled chemical control measures are not kept current.

I hope you’ll shoot AquaPlant an email and point out any errors/inaccuracies you see in their recommended chemical control measures.