Aquatic plants play an important role in nature. They purify water, provide food and shelter for fish and other animals, and help preserve biodiversity.
Aquatic plants are divided into two main groups:
Swimming plants are plants that are fully or partially submerged in water. They have long stems and leaves that help them float on the surface of the water. Examples of floating plants are water lilies, lotuses, seaweeds and hornworts.
Flooded plants are plants that grow at the bottom of a body of water. They have short stems and leaves that are adapted to living in water. Examples of flooded plants are pondweed, elodea, arrowhead and eggplant.
Aquatic plants can be annual, biennial or perennial. They can be herbaceous, shrubby or woody.
Aquatic plants are important to humans. They are used in ornamental gardening, aquarium farming, as well as in medicine and the food industry.
In the next section we will take a closer look at the structure and characteristics of aquatic plants.