The Alismatales (alismatids) are an order of flowering plants including about 4,500 species. Plants assigned to this order are mostly tropical or aquatic. Some grow in fresh water, some in marine habitats. Perhaps the most important food crop in the order is the taro plant, Colocasia esculenta.
Hydrocharitaceae is a flowering plant family including 16 known genera with a total of ca 135 known species, that including a number of species of aquatic plant, for instance the tape-grasses, the well known Canadian waterweed, and frogbit.
Cryptocoryne is a genus of aquatic plants from the family Araceae. The genus is naturally distributed in tropical regions of India, Southeast Asia and New Guinea.
Elodea is a genus of 6 species of aquatic plants often called the waterweeds described as a genus in 1803. Classified in the frog's-bit family (Hydrocharitaceae), Elodea is native to the Americas and is also widely used as aquarium vegetation and laboratory demonstrations of cellular activities. It lives in fresh water. An older name for this genus is Anacharis, which serves as a common name in North America.
Anubias is a genus of aquatic and semi-aquatic flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to tropical central and western Africa. They primarily grow in rivers and streams, but can also be found in marshes. They are characterized by broad, thick, dark leaves that come in many different forms. The genus was revised in 1979 and since then its nomenclature has been stable. Species can be determined by using mostly characteristics of the inflorescence. Because of the often shady places where the plants grow, the genus was named after the Egyptian god Anubis, the god of the afterlife. The genus was first described in 1857 by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott, with A. afzelii as its type species.
Hydrocharis is a genus of aquatic plants in the family Hydrocharitaceae described as a genus by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It is widespread across much of Europe and Asia, plus a few scattered locations in Africa. It is also reportedly naturalized in parts of North America.
Aquascaping is the craft of arranging aquatic plants, as well as rocks, stones, cavework, or driftwood, in an aesthetically pleasing manner within an aquarium—in effect, gardening under water. Aquascape designs include a number of distinct styles, including the garden-like Dutch style and the Japanese-inspired nature style. Typically, an aquascape houses fish as well as plants, although it is possible to create an aquascape with plants only, or with rockwork or other hardscape and no plants.
Vallisneria americana, commonly called wild celery, water-celery, tape grass, or eelgrass, is a plant in the family Hydrocharitaceae, the "tape-grasses". V. americana is a fresh water species that can tolerate salt, living in salinities varying from fresh water to 18 parts per thousand, although the limit to the salt tolerance is unclear, and is generally dependent on the duration and intensity of the plants’ exposure to the saline water. V. americana is a deep rooted plant with leaves, approximately one inch wide, with the ability to rise two or more meters above the clustered base of the plant. Contrary to the implications of one of its common names, wild celery bears little to no resemblance to the celery used as a vegetable. V. americana grows under water and is consumed by various animals, including the canvasback. The plants themselves are long, limp, flat, and have a green mid-ridge.
A freshwater aquarium is a receptacle that holds one or more freshwater aquatic organisms for decorative, pet-keeping, or research purposes. Modern aquariums are most often made from transparent glass or acrylic glass. Typical inhabitants include fish, plants, amphibians, and invertebrates, such as snails and crustaceans.
Egeria densa, the large-flowered waterweed or Brazilian waterweed, is a species of Egeria native to warm temperate South America in southeastern Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. It is considered a problematic invasive species due to its use in home aquariums and subsequent release into non-native ecosystems.
Vallisneria spiralis, also known as straight vallisneria, tape grass, or eel grass is a common aquarium plant that prefers good light and a nutrient rich substrate. In the wild, it can be found in tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide.
Zannichellia is a genus of submerged aquatic flowering plant, with threadlike leaves and tiny flowers. It is fully adapted to an aquatic life cycle, including underwater pollination.
Cabomba aquatica is a popular aquarium plant that belongs to the family Cabombaceae and genus Cabomba. It is a perennial aquatic plant that lives in fresh standing water or in lakes and rivers with slight currents.
Limnobium laevigatum is a floating aquatic plant, and is a member of the family Hydrocharitaceae. Common names include West Indian spongeplant, South American spongeplant and Amazon or smooth frogbit. This plant was introduced to North American waterways through use in aquariums and aquascapes.
Ottelia is a genus of an aquatic plant family Hydrocharitaceae described as a genus in 1805. The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, South America, and Australia.
Blyxa is a genus of an aquatic plant of the family Hydrocharitaceae described as a genus in 1806.
Blyxa aubertii, common name bamboo plant, is a plant species widespread across Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia, but known from the Western Hemisphere only from a few collections in the southwestern part of the US State of Louisiana. This is an aquatic plant growing in shallow lakes and ponds.
Sagittaria platyphylla, the delta arrowhead, broad-leaf arrowhead or delta duck-potato, is a plant species native to the eastern United States.
Najas gracillima, the slender waternymph, is a submerged species of aquatic plant in the Hydrocharitaceae family. found in lakes and streams. It is native to China, Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Iran, Alberta, Ontario, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, the eastern United States. It is also considered introduced and naturalized in France, Spain, Italy and California.
