Aquatic plant
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[[Image:Nymphaea alba.jpg|thumb|250px|''Nymphaea alba'', a species of [[Nymphaeaceae|water lily]].]]
'''Aquatic plants''' — also called '''hydrophytic plants''' or '''hydrophytes''' — are plants that have adapted to living in or on aquatic environments. Because living on or under [[water]] surface requires numerous special adaptations, aquatic plants can only grow in water or permanently saturated [[soil]]. Aquatic [[vascular plant]]s can be [[fern]]s or [[angiosperms]] (from a variety of families, including among the [[monocot]]s and [[dicot]]s). [[Seaweed]]s are not vascular plants but multicellular [[ocean|marine]] [[algae]], and therefore not typically included in the [[:category:aquatic plants|category of aquatic plants]]. As opposed to plants types such as mesophytes and xerophytes, hydrophytes do not have a problem in retaining water due to the abundance of water in its environment. This means the plant has less need to regulate [[transpiration]] (indeed, the regulation of transpiration would require more energy than the possible benefits incurred.)
Hydrophytes share several survival characteristics:
# A thin [[Plant cuticle|cuticle]]. Cuticles primarily prevent water loss, thus most hydrophytes have no need for cuticles.
# [[Stomata]] that are open most of time: so water is (abundant). This means that guard cells on the stomata are generally inactive.
# An increased number of stomata, that can be on either side of leaves.
# A less rigid structure: water pressure supports them.
# flat [[leaf|leaves]] on surface plants for flotation.
# Air sacs for flotation.
# Smaller [[root]]s: water can [[diffusion|diffuse]] directly into leaves.
# Feathery roots: no need to support the plant.
# Specialized roots designed to take in oxygen.
For example, some species of [[buttercup]] (genus ''[[Ranunculus]]'') float slightly submerged in water; only the flowers extend above the water. Their leaves and roots are long and thin and almost hair-like; this helps spread the [[mass]] of the plant over a wide area, making it more [[buoyancy|buoyant]]. <!-- While that sparsity is the opposite of density, what's important here, is leaf density. -->Long roots and thin leaves also provide a greater surface area for uptake of [[mineral]] [[soluble|solutes]] and oxygen.
Wide flat leaves in water lilies (family [[Nymphaeaceae]]) help distribute weight over a large area, thus helping them float near surface.
Many [[aquarists|fish keepers]] keep aquatic plants in their tanks to control [[phytoplankton]] and [[moss]] by removing [[metabolites]].
Many species of aquatic plant are [[invasive species]] in different parts of the world. Aquatic plants make particularly good [[weed]]s because they [[Vegetative reproduction|reproduce vegetatively]] from fragments.
==Adaptations==
* ''Free Plants: In a pond community, they receive more sunlight than submerged plants. But they also have to compete with one another for sunlight
* Submerged Plants: Submerged leaves receive low levels of sunlight because light energy diminishes <!-- Variably --> while passing through a water column.''
----
'''All floating Plants'''
* Have either air spaces trapped in their roots or large air spaces ([[aerenchyma]]) to help them float to obtain sunlight
* Have hair on their leaves to trap air
* Structural Adaptation
----
'''Duckweed, Water Cabbage'''
* Chloroplast found on the top surface of the leaves
* Upper Surface has a thick, waxy cuticle to repel water and help to keep the stomata open and clear
* Structural Adaptation
----
'''Water Lily'''
* Structural Material to Reach higher points and receive more sunlight
* Structural Adaptation
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'''Floating heart, Water Lily, Yellow pond-lily, water-shield'''
* Leaves tend to be broader without major lobbing, remain flat on water surface, maximize surface area and make use of full sunlight, chloroplasts found on the top of leaves
* Structural/ Behavioral Adaptation
----
'''Most Partially-Submerged Plants'''
* Air spaces within the tissues to keep it buoyant so that its leaves can reach the top of the pond, maximizing the amount of sunlight received
* Structural Adaptation
----
'''Dissected: Parrots Feather, Horn wort
Thread-like: ditch-grass, quill wort'''
* Highly dissected/ divided leaves or thread-like ones, Allows for a bigger surface area (surface to volume – S/V)
* Structural Adaptation
----
'''Hydrilla'''
* Elongates Rapidly to reach water surface and branches out at water surface, More light can be obtained at water surface
* Structural/ Behavioral Adaptation
==Human nutrition==
Many aquatic plants are, or have been, used by humans as a food source. Note that especially in (South-east) Asia edible but uncooked hydrophytes are implicated in the transmission of [[fasciolopsiasis]].<ref>[http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2002/fasciolopsiasis/fasciolopsiasis.html Fasciolopsiasis]</ref>
See also ''[[Fasciola hepatica]]''.
* [[Wild rice]] (''[[Zizania]]'')
* [[Water caltrop]] (''[[Trapa natans]]'')
* [[Chinese water chestnut]] (''[[Eleocharis dulcis]]'')
* Indian Lotus (''[[Nelumbo nucifera]]'')
* [[Water spinach]] (''[[Ipomoea aquatica]]'')
* [[Watercress]] (''[[Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum]]'')
* [[Watermimose]], [[Water mimosa]] ? (''[[Neptunia natans]]'')
* [[Taro]] (''[[Colocasia esculenta]]'')
* [[Rice]] (''[[Oryza]]'') is originally not an aquatic plant.
* [[Bullrush]], [[Cattail]], (''[[Typha]]'')
* [[Water-pepper]] (''[[Polygonum hydropiper]]'')
* [[Wasabi]] (''[[Wasabia japonica]]'')
* [[kjosco]]? see also [[Fascioliasis]]
* [[totora]], (''[[Scirpus californicus]]'')?
==Animal nutrition==
Some examples of aquatic plants
* [[Water hyacinth]] (''[[Eichhornia]]'')
* [[Duckweed]]: ''[[Lemna]], [[Spirodela]] and [[Wolffia]]''
* ''[[Trichanthera gigantea]]'' <ref>[http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrd9/4/mauro942.htm Trichanthera gigantea (Humboldt & Bonpland.) Nees: A review]</ref>
==Some examples of aquatic plants==
*''[[Utricularia]]'' (from Latin, ''utriculus'', a little bag or bottle) is a genus of slender aquatic plants, the leaves of which are furnished with floating bladders. They are called [[bladderwort]]s.
* [[Water lettuce]]
==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}
* Cook, C.D.K. (ed). 1974. Water Plants of the World. Dr W Junk Publishers, The Hague. ISBN 90-6193-024-3
==See also==
{|
|-valign=top
|
*[[Bog]]
*[[Helophyte]]
*[[List of freshwater aquarium plant species]]
*[[Marsh]]
*[[Fishing by country#Aquatic plants|Commercial production of aquatic plants]]
| width=40 |
|
*[[Paddy field]]
*[[Salt marsh]]
*[[Sea grass]]
*[[Swamp]]
|}
== External links ==
* [http://www.lilieswatergardens.co.uk/advice.asp Advice for Planting Aquatic Plants]
* [http://www.pondplants1.com/lilies.htm 100's of Pictures of Aquatic Plants]
* [http://www.naturalenviro.com/Article.php?ArticleSKU=Controlling-Algae Algae Control] Information on controlling algae
{{Commons cat|Aquatic plants}}
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[[Category:Aquatic plants| ]]
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