Aquatic Plant Encyclopedia

A tough, slow-growing stem plant with thick oval leaves in opposite pairs. Crushed leaves smell of lemon, and under strong light the leaves take on a bronze to reddish-brown tint.

A hardy stem plant that turns red. Easy for beginners and perfect for adding color to aquariums.

A foreground plant with four-leaf clover shaped leaves. Mysteriously becomes single leaf underwater.

A North American emergent plant (Japanese name Nagabamizuaoi) that holds glossy heart- to arrow-shaped leaves above the water and produces spikes of soft blue-violet flowers from June to October. Cold-hardy, it suits pond margins and large containers.

A small plant with leaves about 1.5 mm wide that spreads by runners into a foreground lawn. Best known by its old name Echinodorus tenellus. It reddens in strong light; a 'Green' form that stays green is also sold.

A floating plant with beautiful red roots and round leaves. Red roots floating on surface add accent.

A tropical Asian floating fern whose velvety, light green floating leaves curl up like boats or hoods. Well grown it forms thick cushions; under poor conditions the leaves lie flat.

A Brazilian stem plant with narrow, bright green lanceolate leaves that branches freely into a bush. Easily trimmed to any height, it works from foreground to background, and shoots reaching the surface bear small blue flowers.

A large stem plant with long, broad, bright green opposite leaves. Fast-growing and bushier after trimming, it bears fragrant purple flowers when grown out of the water. Many forms such as 'Siamensis' exist.

A small vallisneria with thin leaves swaying coolly. Hardy and easy for beginners to grow.

A South American floating plant buoyed by swollen, bladder-like petioles, bearing pale violet flowers in summer. Extremely prolific and designated a Priority Control Alien Species in Japan, so it must never escape into outdoor waters.

A tough, bright green stem plant (Japanese name Otomeazena) with small, thick leaves that widen toward the tip, in opposite pairs. A staple that tolerates almost any water and grows without CO2; emersed it bears pale pink to white flowers.

A South American floating-leaved plant with round leaves that produces a succession of one-day, poppy-like yellow flowers. Called mizuhinageshi in Japanese. Cold-sensitive and listed as an alien species under consideration for control, so keep it out of the wild.