Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes. A macrophyte is an aquatic plant that grows in or near water and is either emergent, submergent, or floating, and includes helophytes. In lakes and rivers macrophytes provide cover for fish and substrate for aquatic invertebrates, produce oxygen, and act as food for some fish and wildlife. Aquatic plants are a way to clean the water going into other bodies of water. The plants slow down the flow of water and capture pollutants and other sediments, the plants will eventually absorb the pollutants and the excess sediment will settle down to the bottom of the body of water.
Lythrum salicaria, or purple loosestrife, is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Primulaceae. Other names include spiked loosestrife and purple lythrum.
Clintonia is a genus of flowering plants first described as a genus in 1818. It is distributed across North America and eastern Asia where it is found as an understory plant in woodlands. It was named after De Witt Clinton, an 18th-century botanist and U.S. politician.
Elodea canadensis is a perennial aquatic plant, or submergent macrophyte, native to most of North America. It has been introduced widely to regions outside its native range and was first recorded from the British Isles in about 1836.
Dasylirion wheeleri is a species of flowering plant in the asparagus family Asparagaceae, native to arid environments of northern Mexico, in Chihuahua and Sonora and in the southwestern United States, in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, and also in New Mexico and Texas.
Maianthemum canadense is a dominant understory perennial flowering plant, native to the sub-boreal conifer forests in Canada and the northern United States, from Yukon and British Columbia east to Newfoundland and south to Nebraska and Pennsylvania, and also in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia. It can be found growing under both evergreen and deciduous trees.
Canna indica, commonly known as Indian shot, African arrowroot, edible canna, purple arrowroot, Sierra Leone arrowroot, is a plant species in the family Cannaceae. It is native to much of South America, Central America, the West Indies, Mexico, and the southeastern United States. It is also naturalized in much of Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Canna indica has been a minor food crop cultivated by indigenous peoples of the Americas for thousands of years.
Chamaedaphne calyculata, known commonly as leatherleaf or cassandra, is a perennial dwarf shrub in the plant family Ericaceae and the only species in the genus Chamaedaphne. It is commonly seen in cold, acidic bogs and forms large, spreading colonies.
Potamogeton crispus, the curled pondweed or curly-leaf pondweed, is a species of aquatic plant native to Eurasia but an introduced species and often a noxious weed in North America.
This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnifying lens. This page provides help in understanding the numerous other pages describing plants by their various taxa. The accompanying page—Plant morphology—provides an overview of the science of the external form of plants. There is also an alphabetical list: Glossary of botanical terms. In contrast, this page deals with botanical terms in a systematic manner, with some illustrations, and organized by plant anatomy and function in plant physiology.
Ceratophyllum demersum, commonly known as hornwort, rigid hornwort, coontail, or coon's tail, is a species of Ceratophyllum. It is a submerged, free-floating aquatic plant, with a cosmopolitan distribution, native to all continents except Antarctica. It is a harmful introduced weed in New Zealand. It is also a popular aquarium plant.
Eucomis vandermerwei is a South African bulbous perennial flowering plant, a member of the asparagus family, and like other members of Eucomis is commonly known as pineapple lily for its superficial resemblance to that plant, although not closely related to it. This species is one of the smallest in the genus, and is native to a high-rainfall region of western Mpumalanga in South Africa. The dense rosette of leaves, either prostrate or ascending, is heavily blotched with purple, and the leaf-edges are markedly crisped or wavy. The star-shaped burgundy flowers appear in midsummer, and are borne on a spike (raceme) topped by a "head" of leafy bracts.
Persicaria amphibia is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by several common names, including longroot smartweed, water knotweed, water smartweed, and amphibious bistort. It is native to much of North America, Asia, Europe, and parts of Africa, and it is known elsewhere as an introduced species and sometimes a noxious weed.
Ceratophyllum echinatum, known as prickly hornwort, spiny hornwort, or spiny coontail, is an aquatic, perennial plant found in North America. Its name comes from fruits, which have a warty surface and long spines. Spiny hornwort can be found in ponds and lakes, principally in eastern North America. It is the only species of its genus endemic to North America.
Ipomoea lacunosa, the whitestar, white morning-glory or pitted morningglory, is a species that belongs to the genus Ipomoea. In this genus most members are commonly referred to as "morning glories". The name for the genus, Ipomoea, has root in the Greek words ips and homoios, which translates to worm-like. This is a reference to the plant's vine-like growth. Lacunosa comes from a Latin word meaning air spaces, correlating with the venation of the leaves. Ipomoea lacunosa is native to the United States and grows annually. The flowers of this species are usually white and smaller than most other morning glories.
The Mobile logperch is a freshwater fish in the perch family found in the Mobile River basin in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia in the southeastern United States. It inhabits clear shallow water and is often associated with Podostemum (riverweed). It grows to about 18 cm (7 in) and is distinguishable from other darters by the distinctive shape of its head and by its pale-yellow base color, with narrow bars on back and sides. It feeds on small invertebrates and breeds between February and May. Lake fish move into small streams to spawn. It is a common fish with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Saxifraga bryoides is a species of saxifrage known by the common name of mossy saxifrage. In German it is known as Moosartiger Steinbrech. It is an inhabitant of the Arctic tundra but it also grows in the Alps and other European mountain ranges at high altitudes.
Nemastylis floridana is a species of flowering plant in the iris family known by the common names Florida celestial, fallflowering pleatleaf, and fallflowering ixia. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it faces many threats to its existence, but so far remains viable.
Iris typhifolia is a species in the genus Iris, also the subgenus of Limniris and in the Iris series Sibiricae. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial, from China. It has slender, twisted leaves, deep green slender hollow stem and 2 violet-blue flowers. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.
Fontinalis antipyretica, the antifever fontinalis moss, greater water-moss, or common water moss, is a species of submerged aquatic moss belonging to the subclass Bryidae. It is found in both still and flowing freshwater in Europe, Asia, North America and parts of Africa.
