Quickly appearing in just about any shallow water, from streams and lakes to roadside ditches, the somewhat spearhead-shaped, palmately-veined leaves of Water Plantains are easy to spot. The white, three petaled flowers on a stalk add a certain …
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Sadly, the invasive Water Hyacinths are choking Texas waterways. They quickly reproduce from just a small bit of root, easily covering entire lakes in a few months. Imported from Asia as a decorative plant due to their beautiful flowers, these …
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Found in lakes, ponds, relatively slow-moving streams across North America, the lily pads and small, yellow flowers of Spatterdock are common sight. Many books on wilderness survival and edible wild plants talk about the rich source of life-saving …
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Found in thick clusters along river, stream, ponds and other moist areas, Smart weeds are a common sight throughout spring, summer, and fall. There unique flower stalks with tiny white flowers make them easy to spot even from a distance. They …
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Coating the Gulf Coast shores and floating in the Gulf waters, sargassum seaweed is generally considered to be a nuisance by beach-goers and city officials, but it plays a critical role in stabilizing beach sand when washed ashore. The seaweeds …
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Growing out of the sand dunes at the high tide limit, sea rocket plants look almost alien. Their thick stems and leaves help maintain moisture under the hot sun and burning sands. During the winter they are leafy but come summer their seedpods …
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Creeping along coastal sand dunes, Sea Purslane is often responsible for the creation of these dunes in the first place. The thick, succulent stems and leaves look like a somewhat over-sized version of the [Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)](/plants/purslane) …
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Look for these plants in still water such as ponds, lakes, water features, and very slow moving streams.
The young leaves are edible before they unroll (early summer). The pickerel fruit isn’t edible but the seed it contains is a great food …
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Common in many shallow, still water, lotus are often mistaken for some sort of large water lily. The main differences between lotus and water lilies are lotus “pads” are round & intact whereas water lily pads have a cleft or gap in the …
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Looking like prehistoric reeds, horsetails are found in large clumps in the sandy soil along Texas streams. They look prehistoric because they are prehistoric, being 100 million years old. Horsetails reproduce via spores rather than seeds, …
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