All species have submersed leaves, whereas others also have floating leaves. Occasionally, individuals of floating-leaved species lose their submersed due to decay or way action. The leaves of Potamogeton may be sessile or petiolate and are divided into at least a blade and a stipule. Venation in the stipule is parallel, and the veins may appear coarse as distinct ridges on the stipule, in which case they are considered fibrous, or they may be much less obvious, even difficult to observe, in which case they are considered to be delicate. Stipule tissue between the veins of fibrous stipules usually decays, leaving strands of fibers, whereas the tissue between the veins and the veins decay in delicate stipules.
Many species have oil glands on the stem at the node of submersed leaves.
These glands are especially common on species with sessile leaves. They are circular in outline and range in color from green to golden to white. They may be present at every node, but more commonly, they are present at most nodes, or possibly only occasionally. Inflorescences may be either emergent or submersed. Emergent inflorescences are elongate and almost always terminal on the stem, whereas submersed inflorescences mostly are globular in shape and axillary.