Incredibly beautiful, multifaceted and amazing underwater world. The plants that live here can be very different. And all of them make a certain contribution to the formation of the ecosystem. Often, it is thanks to them that other living beings (including humans!) Can live and successfully do their own thing. Therefore, to tell more about underwater plants will be very interesting.
Where do they grow
Few people think, but algae live almost everywhere where there is water - from small streams and swamps to huge oceans. Some species feel great in fresh water, while others prefer salt, sea.
But nevertheless, the most densely populated shallow water, as well as areas off the coast. The algae growing here get the most benefits. On the one hand, there is enough sunlight needed for photosynthesis. On the other hand, the water warms up well and all living organisms, ranging from tiny unicellular, ending with fish, act as actively as possible, releasing carbon dioxide needed by algae. With all this, there is an opportunity to gain a foothold in the soil, obtaining from it substances important for the successful development. However, it is worth considering that not all aquatic plants use this opportunity. Many people prefer either to live on the surface of the water, or simply drifting in the thickness, never in contact with the bottom in life, much less trying to gain a foothold in it.
The size of the algae also varies greatly. Some cannot be seen without a microscope, while others can be tens of meters long. And all these underwater plants have names and detailed descriptions compiled by experienced biologists. Of course, telling about each is simply impossible - even the simplest alga deserves to be written about it. By the way, such an event really took place in history. For example, connoisseurs are well acquainted with Konstantin Balmont's book Underwater Plants. Of course, here he considered algae from the point of view of a poet, not a biologist. But such attention already says a lot.
The main groups of algae
In general, there are many systems that provide for the separation of plants of the underwater world into groups. Listing everything will be quite difficult. Therefore, we dwell on one of the simplest. It provides for the separation of algae at the place of growth:
- Coastal. They grow in coastal zones, at shallow depths. Under water is only the lower part of the plant, while most are located above the water. These include reed, reeds, cattail, horsetail, arrowhead.
- Water. Algae that do not even fix at the bottom, preferring to spend their whole lives in the water column, then rising, then lowering, traveling with the current. This is hornwort, nitella, water moss, hara and others.
- Floating. Plants that live only in water, but at the same time keep exclusively on the surface. Some have a powerful root system, while others are practically devoid of it. Of course, they are not fixed in the ground, absorbing the necessary substances directly from the water. This group includes pistol, water ranunculus, water chestnut, water-red, duckweed, swamp flower and a number of others.
- Submerged (they are also deep-sea). Algae rooting in the ground with long roots, but at the same time exposing the main part to the surface. Listing them, in the first place it is worth mentioning the lotus, water lily, egg capsules, orontium.
As you can see, even such a simple system is rather ambiguous - it is not always possible to say exactly which group an underwater plant of the ocean, river, or tiny stream belongs to. Needless to say - nature is fraught with many surprising puzzles.
How to tell about everything? Perhaps this is simply impossible. Even if you describe the underwater plants as briefly as possible, indicating names and photos, you have to compose a whole book. Therefore, we restrict ourselves to just a few. Some are simply of particular interest, breaking out of the standard range. And others are most often found in our country, so every lover of plants and wildlife in general should know about them. And of course, when describing underwater plants, we will apply photos so that the reader makes a more reliable impression of them.
Elodea
Outwardly, a fairly simple plant. It is a long stalk covered on four sides with small, narrow leaves - the size is approximately 10x3 mm. The color is green, although the shade can vary significantly - from light green to brown-green. First of all, it depends on the illumination of the place where the elodea grows, as well as the composition of water and soil.
The root system is not too powerful, but still usually the plant takes root in the ground, feeling fine in almost any environment. It reaches a fairly large length - 2 meters is far from the limit.
In general, the homeland of the Elodea is North America, and specifically Canada. It is to this circumstance that the plant owes its official name - Canadian Elodea It was relatively recently that it came to Europe - less than two centuries ago. Ireland became the first country - it was here that the elodea was brought in 1836. Half a century later, it was introduced into our country, approximately in the 80s of the nineteenth century.
Amazing growth is of primary interest. Once in a new reservoir, the elodea begins to grow zealously, often crowding out all other algae, occupying the same niche as the elodea. It was thanks to this that she received another name - water plague. It is not surprising that for the first time brought to St. Petersburg, the elodea began to spread rapidly and today it can be seen in Siberia - right up to Lake Baikal. It causes a lot of problems when navigating in boats and other small vessels, and also causes some harm to the fishing industry.
But it can be a great choice for a beginner aquarist - putting an elodea in the aquarium, you can be sure that it will take root even with a novice lover.
Hornwort
If we talk about underwater plants of lakes and rivers of our country, we cannot but mention hornwort. Pretty delicate, thin, beautiful, but at the same time tenacious seaweed.
The appearance is very exquisite. It has a thin, but rather hard stem. It is evenly coated on all sides with leaves resembling thin needles like pine. Three to four leaves grow from one point. There are no roots, but there are special rhizoid branches that can well penetrate the ground. However, the roots are not particularly necessary. An interesting feature of the hornwort is the ability to absorb nutrients from water throughout the surface - leaves, trunk, rhizoid branches.
The flowers are very small, almost imperceptible - the color does not differ from the leaves and have a size of no more than two to three millimeters. It is not surprising that a not too attentive person may decide that the hornwort does not bloom.
It is found almost throughout the world - from the tropics to the Arctic Circle. However, different species may vary. For example, experts distinguish light green hornwort and dark green. The first grows year-round, as it lives mainly in warm climates. The second adapted to the harsh winter, when a thick layer of ice almost does not transmit light. By this time, the upper part of the plant becomes more thick and stiff, and the lower part simply dies. But with the advent of spring, this "bump" comes to life and continues to grow.
It can grow perfectly at different depths - from 1 meter to 10. Most often it depends on the intensity of lighting. Hornwort does not like excessive amounts of light, preferring slightly shaded areas.
Water lily
Of course, telling about the most beautiful underwater plants, the photo of water lilies cannot be used as an illustration. Perhaps it is inferior to lotuses and some other similar algae. But you can meet it in many reservoirs of Russia - it is simply impossible to take your eyes off this elegant, delicate flower!
On the surface is only a flower (or bud) and leaves. The roots of the plant are firmly fixed in the soil, and the stem connecting the surface part with the root can reach a length of several meters. The size of the leaves varies significantly - depending on the type and external conditions. But most often it is from 5 to 20 centimeters in diameter. However, sometimes real giants up to half a meter appear. Buds and young leaves are purple, but subsequently turn green.
Found in almost every country in the world - from the southern edges of Latin America to the lakes and rivers of the forest-tundra.
Blossoms, alas, not for long - for one flower no more than five days. But the water lily is growing from May to the first frost. Therefore, she manages to please people several times who saw her with gorgeous flowers - white (or yellow, pink) with surprisingly delicate, elegant petals and a bright yellow middle.
Pistia
A very interesting plant, which many aquarists love. It is found in many countries of the world characterized by a mild, warm climate - pistol does not tolerate frosts and even frosts. But on the equator and tropics of Asia, South and North America and Africa, you can see whole plantations of this amazing algae.
Leaves with distinct longitudinal veins are collected in elegant rosettes floating on the very surface of water bodies - rivers with a weak current, lakes. The surface is covered with tiny hairs that repel water. Therefore, the gun always floats on the surface, not sinking to the bottom. Sometimes sockets have very impressive sizes - up to 20 centimeters in diameter. The root system is quite powerful, it is a single stem, from which the finest processes depart in different directions. It always floats on the surface of water bodies, often covering it with a continuous carpet - the piston grows and multiplies very quickly.
It is hard to believe that such a beautiful and sophisticated plant is very dangerous for nature. The fact is that under suitable conditions, the pistol multiplies very quickly and closes the entire non-flowing pond. Because of this, the rate of evaporation of moisture increases. So, in a few years after getting the first algae, a small lake can simply dry out or simply turn into a swamp. However, this does not detract from the attractiveness of the piston - having seen it once, the plant connoisseur will surely remember it forever.
But it cannot be said that this plant is extremely harmful. People have long been used for it. For example, in many provinces of China, young leaves are boiled and eaten. Also in some places of abundant growth of pistols, it is used as fertilizer (before that, it passes through a compost pit) and a very nutritious feed for pigs. Thanks to its special composition, it can be used when washing and washing dishes. Juice easily corrodes fat, while not harming people, unlike many washing powders and cleaning products.
Finally, pistol is also used in medicine. In China, drugs are made from it for certain skin diseases, in India - for dysentery, and in Malay medicine it is actively used to treat sexually transmitted diseases.
Pemphigus
Probably, every reader has heard of insectivorous plants that do not eat like their normal counterparts, but lead a predatory lifestyle. Because of this, the quite expected question may arise - do underwater predatory plants exist? Surprisingly, the answer to this question will be positive. Pemphigus is able to catch and eat not only insects, but also small animals, fish.
You can meet her in most regions of the world. An exception is only part of the islands in Oceania - because of their isolation - and Antarctica - for obvious reasons. You can see some types of pemphigus even on the southeastern coast of Greenland - an acute, known for extremely harsh climate.
The plant is quite tall, but it has absolutely no leaves. It also does not contain chlorophyll and is completely devoid of roots. This means that it cannot eat in the way that is familiar to most plants - you have to do only hunting.
On the trunk there are a number of bubbles with small holes. Inside they have special valves. As soon as an insect flies out of curiosity into this bubble, it touches sensitive cells and the valve closes the exit. After some time, the victim dies, decomposes and serves as a breeding ground for the plant.
Cyanobacteria
Now it is worth briefly telling about underwater plants dangerous to humans. Of course, they will not be able to attack a person and eat like a fly. But nevertheless, they can pose a certain danger due to other features.
The most dangerous are cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. This is not one species, but the whole family. They are found in fresh and salt waters.
They are not dangerous all the time, but only during the flowering period. Moreover, not even the plants themselves are dangerous, but the substances released during their death. The fact is that after flowering and spraying the seeds of cyanobacteria die. And they die en masse - and in suitable conditions they can cover tens of square kilometers of water bodies. When rotting, algae releases toxic substances that are dangerous to all living things - people, aquatic insects, birds, insects. Moreover, depending on the type, toxins strike various organs: the liver, eyes, lungs, kidneys, and nervous system.
Therefore, going to swim in a warm place to an unfamiliar place, you should be very careful.
Moss balls
It is difficult to unequivocally give a photo of the most unusual underwater plant in the world. Still, there are quite a lot of them and each is surprising in its own way. But, of course, one of those is moss balls.
They grow in only a few places on the globe: the Black Sea, the Tasman Sea, lakes in Iceland and Japan. As you can see, the list is very limited.
As the name implies, these are completely round plants - of course, not ideal in terms of geometry, but close to those. Soft to the touch, but dense, they resemble a ball of woolen threads - an extremely unusual phenomenon in the plant world.
Studies have shown that a small plant grows starting from the center and further - in all directions. The color is saturated green, and the size can vary significantly - usually from 10 to 30 centimeters in diameter! Some experts argue that this indicator depends on age, while others believe that it depends on environmental conditions.
This root system, stem and leaves, this amazing plant does not. Just a graceful, even ball of deep green color.
