aquatics

Herb-of-Grace is a low growing, sprawling, aquatic perennial found on the muddy shores of the tropics and the southeastern United States. Small white or pale blue flowers are set off by the small, succulent, mid-green leaves.

Grow herb-of-grace in full sun in shallow mud at the edge of a pond or in a pot of damp gravel at the water’s edge. It is quite often used in aquariums.

Coon’s tail is a submersed aquatic plant native to all of North America and now is distributed worldwide. It is a rootless perennial which floats just below the surface of the water. It has long stems which are mostly green, occasional with a touch of red at the nodes. The leaves are attached directly to the stem in a circular arrangement or whorled. Each leaf is thin, linear and forked several times. They are bright green, stiff, brittle and often have barbs or bristles at the base and tips. Small,...

Common water hyacinth is beautiful aquatic plant native to South America. It is a floating plant that forms dense mats, sometimes rooting in the mud. The leaves are elliptical to oval arising from rosettes on inflated petioles. The roots are dark blue-black and feathery. New plants form readily along floating stolons or horizontal stems. The flowers are held above the foliage in dense spikes when the weather is warm. The flowers are generally 2-lipped with blue to lavender petals and a central yellow...

The vigorous, densely foliage, spreading reed sweetgrass adds weeping foliage to shallow edges and waters of lakes, ponds and streambanks. A perennial aquatic that spreads by rhizomes (underground stems), it is native to a large area of temperate Europe and Asia, from Great Britain eastward to Japan. The leaves are strap-like and first emerge pink before deepening to a deep green and bend gracefully over as they lengthen. In mid and late summer, small spikelets of purple-green flowers form on slender...

The vigorous, densely foliaged, spreading variegated reed sweet grass adds a soft, weeping foliage to shallow edges and waters of lakes, ponds and streambanks. A perennial aquatic that spreads by rhizomes (underground stems), it is native to a large area of temperate Europe and Asia, from Great Britain eastward to Japan. The leaves are strap-like and first emerge pink before maturing to a striped display of white, cream and deep green. The leaf blades bend gracefully over as they lengthen. In mid...

The common mare’s tail is a prolific aquatic plant with bottlebrush-like green foliage. It can be found in wetlands across all of North America, save the Deep South and southeastern states, and is also found in waterways in South America, Eurasia, and even Australia. So it truly has a world or pandemic distribution.

Hardy and very vigorous, this perennial produces strong underground rhizomes which travel through water-logged soils and send up new shoots. Each hollow stem is lined with fine,...

Water violet is an spreading aquatic plant native to Eurasia. It has finely dissected, feather-like leaves that grow submerged. The stems are long and leaves arranged alternately or around the stem (whorled). The summer flowers are borne on long stalks above the water in loose groups gathered around the stem. They have short tubes which flatten into square-ish to oval lobes. The flower color is white, pale pink or lavender with a yellow throat.

Water violet grows best when the roots are planted...

Low and sprawling, manyflower marsh pennywort has fleshy, round green leaves and summertime clusters of tiny white starry flowers in rounded clusters. An herbaceous perennial native to the eastern United States and in parts of southern California, it spreads its prostrate stems across wet soil or floating upon water. In parts of the eastern United States this native wetland wildflower is endangered because of habitat destruction.

The round leaves are about the size of a ping-pong ball, flat,...

An aggressively spreading, floating aquatic vine, swamp morning glory's leaves are rich in iron and its lavender-kissed white flowers are alluring. A tender perennial vine that spreads rapidly across the freshwater surface, it is native to India and is considered an invasive pest in many regions including the southern United States, Hawaii, and the Philippines. The use of the foliage as an edible vegetable (water spinach) in many Southeast Asian cuisines is promoting the deleterious introduction...

An interesting fern with clover-like fronds, common water clover forms soft-looking mats of foliage at the water's edge and beyond. A frost tender tropical perennial fern, it grows from upright rhizomes (underground stems) in wetlands naturally across interior Australia.

The submerged rhizomes send up thin stems above the water surface. Each frond is fan-shaped, with two leaflets that are each divided into two lobes. Crush a leaf and it smells of peppery mint. As this is a fern it does not flower...