According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a wetlands is land where water is the dominant factor in determining what kinds of plants and animals live there. There are wetlands on every continent except Antarctica, each with its own variety of wildlife and plants.
Cattails are one of the best-known plants that are unique to wetlands. The flowers are very easy to recognize. It looks like a brown cylinder with a yellow spike on top. Cattails can grow up to 10 feet in height. Birds such as red-winged blackbirds, ducks, and geese nest among cattails.
Another important plant for water birds is duckweed. This tiny green plant floats on the surface of water and is a significant food source for ducks and other birds. Duckweed has three small weeds and tends to grow together in clumps. If not eaten or controlled, duckweed can choke oxygen out of water and kill off fish populations.
Fieldmint can grow up to a foot and a half in height. It not only feeds animals and birds, but humans also enjoy its aromatic scent and taste. It can be used to make teas and help fight off bacteria. It looks different than traditional mint because its flowers have non-terminal whorls.
Another common and well-known plant that grows in wetlands is the milkweed. Although it is the primary food for monarch butterfly caterpillars, milkweed also feeds and shelters other wetlands animals and birds. Milkweed gets its name from its white, milky nectar. Bees also use the plant for food.
The bull thistle also grows in wetlands. It sprouts a bright purple flower although the rest of the plant is covered with prickly spikes. The bull thistle can grow up to six feet in height. Deer eat the bull thistle’s leaves, and its nectar is eaten by bees and butterflies.
One of the most common plants to grow in wetlands are alkaline grasses. These grasses can grow quite tall and provide food for grazing mammals such as deer.
