PLANTS IN WETLANDS

Types of plants that are found in wetlands are emergents, floating plants, and submergents.

Emergents are plants that grow out of the water. Floating plants are plants that have adapted to the water so that their leaves can float on the top of water which occur in ponds, places along streams and rivers and where there is little to no current. Submergents are plants that live completely under the surface of the water. Their roots anchor them to the bottom of the pond and some are submerged not rooted.


A type of emergent is called an arrowhead: It has a long slender arrow-shape leaves that extend tall on 1 to 5 foot stalks towards the sun. They have a white delicate flower of three pedals with a yellow inside for males and green-like for females. Their small potato-like tuber which is near the root provides a tasty treat for animals in the water near pond edges, swamps, marshes and all over North America. Arrowheads improves conditions for other organisms in the ecosystem. They produce edible tubers that were extensively used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Arrow heads permits pollution by wind or flying insects. Arrowheads can grow aggressively, spreading to form large patches of plants. These dense patches are important spawning and nursery grounds for some species of fish.


A type of floating plant is the spatterdock(water lily) which is an a aquatic plant and is a large plant with heart shaped leaves attached to long thick root stems and wavy imprints. Spatterdock flowers are yellow and "half-opened." Flowers are attached to thick round stems that are often six feet long. There seeds can be consumed. They bloom from spring to the summer. Spatterdock floating levels are attached to long, stout stems which arise from large, spongy rhizomes. Spatterdock submersed leaves are very thin, attached at the bottom rhizomes. Spatterdock was long used in traditional medicine, with the root applied to the skin or both the root and seeds eaten for a variety of conditions. The seeds are edible, and can be ground into flour. The root is edible too, but can prove to be incredibly bitter in some plants. It provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food called (detritus.)



A type of submergents is a coontail(Ceratophyllum) which is submersed with no roots, floating-free. It is found growing in ponds, lakes, streams, and sluggish waters. This plant resembles a raccoon tail, because of its feathery leaves that are fan-shaped divided into many narrow segments. Each leaf has several small teeth on the midribs giving them a rough feel.Coontail's flowers are very small and rarely seen. Coontail reproduces by seeds and fragmentation. The fruits of coontail are consumed and it is considered a good wildlife food. They produce rings of bright green leaves. They offer excellent protection to fish-spawn and because of their appearance and their high oxygen production, they are often used in freshwater aquariums.

FILL IN THE BLANK

1. ____________ are plants that grow out of water.
2.____________ plants that float on top of the water.
3. ___________ are plants that live completly under water.