Vegetation

This habitat provides the combinations of open water and protective emergent plants that are preferred by waterfowl. They provide a variety of food and cover for the smaller organisms that are used as food by many birds and larger animals. Most emergent plants have air spaces in their stems that enable oxygen to be transported to roots that grow in sediments with no oxygen. Some of the trees that grow in swamps form a set of roots above the soil surface or above the water that allows them to get oxygen to the lower roots. The different plant species of a wetland provide habitat for varied animal communities. It is said that a list of the different shrubs and vines would fill a telephone book! Below you will find some of these most interesting plants.

Each aquatic community has a variety of plants which provide shelter and food for many [Pickerelweed] of the animals living in the community, and add oxygen to the water. Some of these plants grow along the water's edge, such as this pickerelweed.

EMERGENTS Plants that grow out of water are called emergents. Some emergents are: broadleaf arrowhead, named for the shape of its leaf, and soft rush. [Broadleaf Arrowhead] [Soft Rush]

FLOATING PLANTS [Spatter Dock] Other aquatic plants have adapted so that their leaves float on the surface of the water. These plants, such as spatter dock, floating pondweeds, and duckweed, tend to occur in ponds and in backwaters of streams and rivers where there is little or no current.

[Floating Pond Weeds] [Duckweed]
SUBMERGENTS [Water Milfoil] A third group of plants grow completely submerged under the surface of the water. The roots of this water milfoil anchor it into the bottom of the pond.

Strawberry Bush - this plant is considered an "ice cream" plant by deer. They love it! The plant's berries, however, are deadly to livestock. Also known as Hearts- a- Bustin', the plant has warty fruits and raspberry-red broken hearts that shed orange tears!

[Bald Cypress] Bald Cypress - although a conifer, the Bald cypress drops its leaves in the fall like the trees of the deciduous forest! Common Bald Cypress is intolerant of shade when young. Some cypress trees are more than 40 feet around!

[Leather Flower] Leather Flower - a climbing vine with extremely fragrant flowers. Found in hardwood bottoms, freshwater marshes, and swamp forests. The flower stalk is so delicate, the flower often appears to be floating!
[Buttonbush] Buttonbush - Buttonbush is the only shrub that has whorled leaves and flowers and fruits in spherical heads. It grows to a height of 10 feet and can be found in swamps, lakes, ponds, low woods, and marshes. It is reported that the leaves are poisonous if eaten by most animals!
[Cattail] Cattails - fast-growing weeds, once thought to be a danger to wetlands. These plants are now being used as a huge natural filter to suck the fertilizer out of runoff water, permitting cleaner water to be discharged into wetland habitat areas! The shoots of the cattail. can be pulled, cooked, and eaten as an emergency energy food!
[Swamp Azalea] Swamp Azalea - flowers in April to early May. The blossoms are 1.25 inches across. They appear in pink or white clusters and are very fragrant. The leaves of the plant turn orange or bronzy red in the fall. The plant can grow to nine feet tall!
[Spanish Moss Flower] Spanish Moss - it's not a moss nor is it Spanish. Its a plant growing on another plant. Exactly why it's called Spanish moss remains a mystery. A rather lyrical description of this plant was offered by James J. Kilpatrick, who wrote of Spanish moss as a metaphor for its native region: "An indigenous, indestructible part of the Southern character; it blurs, conceals, softens and wraps the hard limbs of hard times in a fringed shawl."
[Cedar Sedge] Cedar Sedge - the easiest way to tell a sedge from a grass is by feeling the stem. If the stem is flat or rounded, then you've probably got a grass or a reed. If the stem is clearly triangular, then you've got a sedge.Bullrushes are a type of sedge.
[Yellow Jessamine] Yellow Jessamine- twining (left to right) woody vine with opposite, pointed, evergreen leaves. This is the state flower of South Carolina and is often cultivated. All parts are poisonous when taken internally, but not to the touch. Children have been poisoned by sucking nectar from the flowers, probably mistaking them for honeysuckle!
[Jack in the Pulpit] Jack in the Pulpit- Jack-In-The-Pulpit is a plant found in shady, moist areas. The flower is a green spathe that surrounds and shelters the flower spike. The flowers are followed by a cluster of orange-red berries in the fall. The plant is poisonous.

back to habitat back to home page