Flowers on the water title. Flowers growing in water: an overview of the best
Water lily - a charming and delicate white water lily - is nothing more than the famous fairy tale grass. Rumor ascribes magical properties to it. She was endowed with the ability to protect people, she could give strength to overcome the enemy, protect from troubles and misfortunes, but she could also destroy the one who was looking for her with unclean thoughts.
The Slavs believed that the water lily was able to protect people from various troubles while traveling. Going on a long journey, people sewed leaves and flowers of water lilies into small bags, carried water lilies with them as an amulet and firmly believed that this would bring them good luck and protect them from misfortunes. 
There was also a kind of spell on this occasion: “I am riding in an open field, and grass grows in an open field. I didn’t give birth to you, I didn’t water you. Overcome the grass! Overcome the evil people: they would have famously not thought of me, they did not think badly; drive away the sorcerer-tattler. 
Overcome-grass! Overcome high mountains, low valleys, blue lakes, steep banks, dark forests, stumps and decks. I will hide you, overpowering grass, at the zealous heart all the way and all the way!
Folk names: grass overpower or white overpower, balabolka, swimmer, mermaid flower or mermaid color, water poppy or water poppy, bliskalka, beaver, white hens, water companion, water color, white water lily.
The pitcher is wonderful! This is one of the most beautiful plants. The white water lily has long been considered a symbol of beauty, purity and mercy. These large flowers with a golden mean grow in the still waters of our rivers and lakes. The water lily is also called the "child of the sun": its beautiful flowers open in the morning and close at dusk. 
"Blue lotus, or blue water lily (lat. Nymphaea caerulea) is an aquatic plant of the water lily family, a species of the genus Water lily growing in East Africa (from the Nile Valley to the extreme south of the continent), India and Thailand."
There are many legends about the origin of this wonderful plant. They say that she got her name in honor of the nymphs that live, like these plants in the water. As is known from Greek mythology, nymphs are the deities of nature: forests, mountains, lakes, rivers and seas. No wonder the flowers named after them are beautiful. In Slavic fairy tales, the idea of water lilies is associated with the mysterious image of a mermaid. 
Scandinavian legends say that every water lily has its own friend - an elf, who is born with her, and dies with her. According to popular belief, nymphs live in its flowers and leaves along with little elves. Leaves and flowers serve as boats for these little elves.
Corollas of flowers serve the elves as both a home and a bell. 
During the day, the elves sleep in the depths of the flower, and at night they swing the pestle and call, calling their brothers for a quiet conversation. Some of them sit in a circle on a leaf, hanging their legs into the water, while others prefer to talk, swaying in the corollas of water lilies. 
Gathering together, they sit in capsules and row, row with petal oars, and the capsules then serve them as boats or boats. The conversations of the elves take place at a late hour, when everything on the lake has calmed down and plunged into a deep sleep. 
Lake elves live in underwater crystal chambers built from shells. Pearls, yachts, silver and corals glisten around the halls. Emerald streams roll along the bottom of the lake, dotted with multi-colored pebbles, and waterfalls fall on the roofs of the halls. The sun shines through the water into these dwellings, and the moon and the stars call the elves to the shore. 
Switzerland, Goldfish and Lily
The ancient Greek legend about the water lily tells how a beautiful white nymph, inflamed with love for Hercules and did not receive a response from him, turned into a white water lily out of grief and love for him.
In ancient Greece, the flower was considered a symbol of beauty and eloquence. Young girls wove garlands from them, decorated their heads and tunics with them; they even wove a wreath of water lilies for the beautiful Helen on the day of her wedding to King Menelaus and decorated the entrance to their bedroom with a wreath. 
The legend of the North American Indians says that the water lily appeared during the collision of the Polar and Evening Stars, from their sparks. These two stars argued among themselves who would get the arrow that the great Indian leader shot into the sky and collided in flight. 
According to North German belief, water lilies grew on the site of two dead mermaids, who were killed by an evil nyx (in ancient German mythology - a mermaid) who lived in the lake.
In Germany, it was said that once a little mermaid fell in love with a knight, but he did not reciprocate her feelings. From grief, the nymph turned into a water lily. 
"Nymphea Karelian"
According to another legend, water lilies are the children of a beautiful countess, carried away into mud by a swamp king. Heartbroken, the Countess went daily to the shore of the swamp. One day she saw a wonderful white flower, the petals of which resembled the complexion of her daughter, and the stamens - her golden hair. 
There is a belief that nymphs (mermaids) hide in flowers and on the leaves of water lilies, and at midnight they begin to dance and drag people passing by the lake with them. If someone managed to somehow escape from them, then grief will dry him up later. 
In the distant past, the entire coastal strip of Italy, from Pisa to Naples, was occupied by swamps. There, the legend of the beautiful Melinda and the king of the swamp was born. The legend that water lilies are the children of the beautiful blond Countess Melinda and the ugly, terrible swamp king who kidnapped her. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Melinda. 
on Yandex.Photos
And the swamp king followed her all the time. The king's eyes twinkled as he looked at beautiful girl, and although he was terrible as hell, he nevertheless became Melinda's husband, and a yellow capsule helped him get the beauty - the closest relative of the white water lily, personifying treason and deceit for a long time.
Walking with her friends by the swampy lake, Melinda admired the golden floating flowers, reached for one of them, stepped on the coastal stump, in which the lord of the bog hid, and he carried the girl to the bottom. 
""scarlet flower"-2"
At the place of her death, snow-white flowers with a yellow core surfaced. So after the lilies-pods appeared water lilies-lilies, meaning in the ancient language of flowers: "You must never deceive me." 
Water lilies, Nikitsky Botanical Garden, Crimea
The pod blooms from late May to August. At this time, next to the floating leaves, you can see large yellow, almost spherical flowers sticking high on thick pedicels. 
The capsule has long been considered folk medicine healing plant. Both leaves were used, and a thick, up to 15 centimeters long, rhizome lying on the bottom, and large, well-smelling flowers reaching 5 centimeters in diameter. 
They cut off the egg-pod and in order to decorate her dwelling with flowers. And in vain: the flowers of the capsule, like the white lily, do not stand in vases. 
small egg
The white water lily is protected by law, as there are very few of them left in the reservoirs of rivers and lakes. The water lily blooms for a long time, from the end of May to August. White lily flowers open in the early morning and close in the late evening. 
"Nymphaeums flaunt on our lake. They say that some enthusiast dived from a boat, planted ... Praise be to him. Far from the coast ... But away from vandals ..)))"
If you come early in the morning to the lake, you can observe how these flowers appear from the water. This is an unforgettable sight! Here, from the depths of the lake, something begins to rise, and a large bud appears on the surface.
In a matter of minutes, it turns into a beautiful white flower. Nearby is another one, a little further away ... It is surprising that the buds emerge just before sunrise, and open as soon as the sun's rays touch the surface of the water. 
You won't find them in the same position all day. From morning until evening, flowering water lilies follow the movement of the sun, turning the floating head towards its rays. At noon they open all their petals. Then their flowers begin to gradually close and the flower looks like an unopened bud. 
And here an interesting thing happens: the closed flowers of the water lily begin to slowly sink into the water. These whip-stems, shortening, draw flowers behind them. Water lilies are very fond of the sun, clouds will come in a little and they will slowly begin to close. 
The leaf of the water lily is floating like a raft, outwardly simple, heart-shaped and thick, like a flat cake; there are air cavities inside it, therefore it does not sink. 
There is several times more air in it in order to hold its own weight, the excess of which is necessary for unforeseen accidents: if, say, a bird or a frog sits down, the sheet must hold them. 
Aquatic plants living in garden ponds are needed not only for decorating the water surface and coastline. Some of them, whose leaves are on the surface of the reservoir, protect its inhabitants from overheating in extreme heat. Others, being a powerful biofilter, purify water from bacteria and harmful impurities. In addition, aquatic plants also serve as food for the inhabitants of the reservoir.
The area of the water surface occupied by plants should not exceed 20% of the total area of the reservoir. It must also be remembered that for the successful growth and development of aquatic plants, it is necessary that the surface of the water be illuminated by the sun for 5-6 hours a day.
Aquatic plants are divided into deep-water, floating and shallow-water.
deep sea plants
The roots of these plants are located in the bottom soil, and the leaves and flowers are on the surface of the water.
Water lily (Nymphaea) - water lily, nymphea, without which it is simply impossible to imagine any pond.
Water lilies are cold-resistant aquatic plants that successfully winter in open water bodies of our climatic zone. Water lilies bloom from about mid-May until cold weather. But the peak of flowering occurs in mid-summer. One flower lives 4-5 days. Faded flowers must be removed with part of the stem. It is advisable to remove old yellowed leaves with brown spots.
The diameter, color, flower doubleness and leaf variability depend on the variety.
The depth of the reservoir necessary for normal growth and development also depends on the variety: 20-40 cm is enough for dwarf varieties of water lilies, 60-80 cm for medium ones, and 80-150 cm for giant ones.
Eggshell (Nuphar)- in our reservoirs, the yellow egg-pod (Nuphar lutea) is mainly used.
Unpretentious yellow capsules grow and bloom in reservoirs even with little light. Egg-pods may well overwinter at a very shallow depth - only 30-40 cm, so they are indispensable for shallow water bodies. The depth of planting egg-pods is 30-60 cm.
The capsules have beautiful bright green leaves, similar to the leaves of water lilies, and bright yellow flowers slightly raised above the water with a diameter of 4-6 cm.
white flower(Nymphoides peltata)or nymphaeum, which received such a name for its external resemblance to a small water lily, is a fairly aggressive plant in a pond. Its growth must be limited, otherwise it will quickly fill the entire space of the reservoir.
The white flower has medium-sized (5-6 cm) round leaves with a slightly wavy edge and bright yellow flowers 4-5 cm in diameter raised above the water with a fringed edge.
The planting depth of the white flower plant is 40-80 cm.
floating plants
For the ability of these plants to effectively purify water, they are called biofilters. Due to the various rosettes of leaves, in which daughter rosettes grow along the periphery during the summer, floating plants look very interesting. They do not need to be fixed in the bottom soil, since all the nutrients floating plants receive from the water, which is absorbed by the roots located in the thickness of this very water.
Frog watercress (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae) - a real "janitor" in the reservoir, collecting all the water debris on its underwater parts. The growth rate is moderate.
It blooms throughout the summer with medium-sized white trefoils, slightly rising above the water. Small leaves 2.5-3 cm in diameter are similar to the leaves of a miniature water lily.
The watercress frog overwinters in the form of buds laid at the end of stolons, which in winter descend into deeper layers of water.
Grows equally well in the sun and in the shade. The branch of peripheral rosettes reproduces in early summer.
Pistia stratiotes (Pistia stratiotes)- this heat-loving plant, called water lettuce, is one of the best natural filters that can take excess organic matter dissolved in it from water. A dense rosette of pistia is assembled from dense lowered light green leaves no more than 15 cm high and up to 30 cm wide. Under the base of the rosette there is a long highly branched root lobe.
Pistia grows well in a warm, sunny pond.
In open waters it is not winter-hardy. Winters in an aquarium with warm water, or a container with wet moss at a temperature of +4-5 degrees.
Floating pondweed (Potamogeton natans) - a fast-growing floating plant with brownish-green narrow oval leaves 9-12 cm long and 4-6 cm wide. Part of the leaves and long stems are under water. Grows well in both sunny and slightly shaded waters. Feels great in shallow water.
The floating pondweed is propagated by stem cuttings.
Lesser duckweed (Lemna minor)
-about a very small plant floating on the surface of the water, consisting of three rounded leaves. Sooner or later, separate "lawns" of duckweed will appear in the pond, but you should not be upset - duckweed grows strongly only in abandoned reservoirs with a high content of organic matter.
Salvinia floating (Salvinia natans)- relic water fern. Textured oval leaves, located on short floating stems, are green or bronze-green in color. Small roots of salvinia are located on the underside of the stems. Prefers sunny and warm waters. It reproduces by spores that overwinter at the bottom of the reservoir.
Shallow plants (coastal plants)
This is the largest group of plants that can grow with varying degrees of soil moisture: some grow directly in the shallow water zone at a planting depth of 5-20 cm, others on heavily moist periodically flooded soils, but without immersion in water.
Calamus (Acorus calamus)
- a fast-growing, unpretentious perennial with hard, belt-shaped leaves up to 120 cm high. In the photo, the Variegatus variety, which grows more slowly and has a wide creamy stripe.
Calamus remarkably purify water, are an excellent biofilter. They grow well both in the sun and with significant shading.Planting depth 5-20 cm.
Marsh calla (Calla palustris), marsh calla
- an absolutely unpretentious plant with dark green shiny heart-shaped leaves that adorn the pond throughout the summer. In May-June, a rather large white "veil" appears at the calla, which is mistakenly considered a flower. Small flowers of the marsh calla are collected in a short cob. At the end of summer, the calla bears bright red fruits.
In excessively nutritious marsh water, the calla can become an aggressor, therefore, in such cases, its growth should be limited, especially in small ponds.
Grows well in both sun and shade. Planting depth 10-15 cm.
THE PLANT IS POISONOUS!
Three-leaf watch (Menyanthes trifoliata)- unpretentious spectacular perennial with bright green trifoliate leaves. In May-June, pinkish buds appear at the three-leaf watch, from which white flowers with ciliated edges of the petals open. The flowers are collected in racemes up to 20 cm long.
Prefers full sun but tolerates some shade. Propagated by division of the rhizome and seeds.
Planting depth 5-10 cm.
Iris marsh, iris iris (Iris pseudacorus) - a powerful, fast-growing perennial up to 120 cm high. Marsh iris has bright green belt-like leaves and yellow flowers that appear en masse in early summer.
It can grow both in the sun and in the shade, but it blooms poorly in the shade.
At the moment, many varieties with double flowers and variegated leaves have been bred.
Planting depth 10-20 cm.
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)- a very ornamental plant that blooms in early May. Dark green shiny round-heart-shaped leaves with pronounced venation beautifully set off large (4-6 cm) bright yellow flowers with a wax coating.
Prefers sun or light shade. Propagated by dividing the bush at the end of summer or by seeds.
Planting depth 5-10 cm.
Lake bulrush (Scirpus lacustris)- This plant can be found under the name "Kuga". An unpretentious rhizomatous perennial up to 3 m high with narrow, hollow, dark green leaves inside. It blooms in the second half of summer with brown-brown spikelets collected in paniculate inflorescences.
Planting depth 5-20 cm.
Forest reed (Scirpus silvatica)- a plant of our strip, often found in highly humid places. The forest reed has fairly wide light green belt-like leaves collected in rosettes. It blooms in very attractive loose panicles. A good plant for a small pond.
Planting depth 5-20 cm.
Marsh forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris)- perennial fast-growing plant for shallow water. It blooms in summer with characteristic small blue flowers. Plant height 25-30 cm.
Prefers well-lit places. Propagated by stem cuttings or seeds.
Planting depth 5-10 cm.
Pontederia cordata (Pontederia cordata)
- very showy plant with bright green leaves beautiful shape. It blooms in mid-summer with bluish-purple flowers collected in dense inflorescences.
Prefers well-warmed up by the sun places. In our climatic zone, it is not winter-hardy, as it needs a warm wintering. It is easier to grow it in a container and put it away for winter storage in a warm room.
Propagated by division of rhizomes.
Branching rush (Juncus effusus) is a wonderful fast-growing graceful perennial with long needle-shaped leaves and graceful inflorescences. A good choice for shallow water.
It is noteworthy that in winter, the spreading rush is an excellent conductor of air under the ice of the reservoir. Grows well in both sun and partial shade.
It reproduces by self-seeding. Planting depth 5-10 cm.
Common arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia)- very hardy and fast growing perennial plant. In early summer, it blooms with large lilac-white flowers, collected in dense cone-shaped inflorescences. The arrowhead has very decorative fruits - round cones.
Prefers sunny places. It reproduces by buds, which are formed at the ends of stolons, as well as by seeds.
Planting depth 15-20 cm. With a deeper planting, the arrowhead may stop blooming, and the leaves may lose their arrow-shaped shape.
Susak umbrella (Butomus umbrellatus)- elegant unpretentious enough high (80-120 cm) perennial with narrow dark green leaves. It blooms in loose umbellate inflorescences of pale pink flowers on long bare stems. Flowering continues almost all summer. Grows well in both sun and shade. The common tail (Hippuris vulgaris) or water pine is a perennial unpretentious plant with vertical stems covered with whorls of needle-like leaves. The shoots look like small pine branches.
Prefers well-lit places.
Planting depth 5-10 cm.
Under natural conditions, the plant lives in the waters of Southeast Asia. This is a good substrate for fish spawning. Its root system is slightly developed, the roots are white, filiform, the leaves are light green. The plant is very unpretentious, can develop as a floating, without rooting. Hygrophila prefers a water temperature of about 27 "C and soil from a mixture of peat, leafy soil, sand and clay. Lighting is undemanding. Propagated by cuttings and ground shoots.
Also cultivated in the aquarium are Hygrophila guianensis with narrow-lanceolate green leaves, which, when the shoot reaches the surface, blooms with large white flowers, and willow hygrophila (Hygrophila salicifolia), with leaves shaped like willow leaves. The growing conditions for all hygrophiles are similar.
PISTIA LAYER, water lettuce (Pjstia stratiotes). Aroid family, common in water bodies of the tropics and subtropics. perennial herbaceous plant, forming a rosette of leaves, floats on the surface of the water. It has a well-developed root system, consisting of many long white roots, reaching a length of 20 cm. The leaves are obtusely wedge-shaped, long - up to 25 cm and wide. They have a spongy structure with cavities filled with air, thanks to which the plant rests on the surface of the water.
Pistia roots serve as a substrate for spawning fish and a refuge for their fry. It grows well in water of any composition at a temperature of 23 - 27 "C in summer and about 22 C in winter. An aquarium with pistia should be under glass and well lit from above. It blooms in good conditions in summer. The inflorescence is a green blanket and a small cob.
(Shinnersia rivularis). Under natural conditions, it lives in small rocky rivers in Mexico. A very unpretentious plant, it can be planted in the ground, to which it is undemanding, or left floating. When growing a floating form, the leaves of trichocornis become smaller. Can grow in hard and alkaline water. It has a well-developed fibrous root system. The green carved leaves vary greatly in shape and size, which depend on conditions.
Lighting required is moderate to bright. In a low aquarium, the branches of the plant, having reached the surface, come out of the water, so their tops must be pinched. It propagates by basal or lateral shoots from leaf buds.
(Heteranthera zosteraefolia). A floating plant with a poorly developed root system, thin white roots and pale green or green leaves up to 7 cm long. Distributed in slow-flowing and stagnant reservoirs of tropical Africa. Prefers clay soil and soft water with temperatures above 20 "C, as well as bright diffused light.
The plant develops better with a low water level. Propagated by stem and root cuttings. In aquariums, calliform heteranther (Heteranthera callifolia) with blunt-pointed leaves and kidney-shaped heteranther (Heteranthera regiformis) with denser heart-shaped leaves are also cultivated.
(Salvinia auriculata). Homeland - Central America. This very picturesque water fern is a horizontal underwater stem with two rows of oval green leaves located above the water and one row of brown leaves dissected into many long linear leaves and densely covered with hairs growing under water.
Underwater leaves act as roots - they feed the plant. Salvinia thrives well in aquariums with clean, soft water in bright sunlight. The above-water part is very demanding on air humidity, so the aquarium must be covered with glass. REPRODUCES by spores that germinate in water.
(Vallisneria spiralis). The water color family. Homeland - Southern Europe. An inhabitant of shallow freshwater reservoirs, with a short stem and bright green ribbon-like leaves growing upwards. In adult plants, a tubular flower appears above the water in the summer on a spiral pedicel. This is a female specimen, it is fertilized by pollen from male plants, which floats to the surface of the water. Seeds ripen in water.
The most suitable soil is silt, but it also grows well in sand. Vallisneria is propagated by layering that appears on the stem and seeds.
ROTALA INDIAN(Rotala indica). Homeland - tropical Asia. An unpretentious plant with a long stem, on which leaves of various shapes are opposite: underwater - lanceolate, bright green in color and above-water - oval, the underside of the leaf is red. The rhizome is creeping, with white adventitious roots and a large number of leaf buds. It develops well in water of any composition, at a temperature not lower than 20 "C.
When reaching the surface of the water, the shoot is pinched for more lush branching. From insufficient illumination, the leaves become smaller and lose their red color. Propagated by stem branches and basal shoots.
(Utricularia gibba). This inhabitant of tropical and subtropical reservoirs belongs to perennial - carnivorous herbs. Grows in water of any composition with overhead lighting. It has no roots, and the plant floats freely near the surface. Narrow small leaves with bubbles are located on thin green stems.
Pemphigus catches prey with the help of bubbles, which also help the plant to stay near the surface. The plant is absolutely not dangerous even for the smallest fry. The plant releases a lot of oxygen, helps purify the water and serves as a refuge for fry.
(Dioneae). Rosyankovye family. Homeland - North and South Carolina. A perennial rhizomatous aquatic plant that lives in sphagnum bogs. The leaves are collected in rosettes, covered with trapping glandular hairs and bristles; plant is insectivorous. It blooms in paniculate inflorescences with white flowers. The plant is propagated by seeds in moist peat.
Seeds germinate slowly over several months. Seedlings also grow slowly. The grown plants are planted in pots with loose peat soil mixed with sphagnum moss and installed in a terrarium or aquarium.
(Elodea denza). The water color family. Homeland - South America. A beautiful, branchy, long-stemmed aquatic plant that thrives well in indoor aquaria.
Green linear leaves are collected 4 in a whorl. It grows continuously, propagating by stem pieces planted under water. The soil is not demanding. Lighting can be bright or moderate.
(Myriophyllum) Homeland - North America. Translated from Greek, myriophyllum means "many leaves" ("myrios" - countless and "phyllon" - leaf). The pinnate leaves have forked leaves dissected into many filiform segments. These are very picturesque plants living in the water. On their bright green multi-branched shoots there are countless thin, delicately cut dark green leaves.
Peristoliths thrive in sandy soil, soft water with a temperature of about 27 ° C and bright diffused lighting. Unpretentiousness and rapid growth have made cinnafolia one of the main plants for decorating an aquarium and an excellent substrate for spawning fish. All plants have similar conditions for keeping and breeding .
REPRODUCED by cuttings. Brazilian pintoleaf (Myriophyllum brasiliense) is common in Brazil. It has a fibrous root system and thin roots. At a water temperature of 25 - 27 "C and bright diffused lighting, it develops rapidly.
When reaching the surface, the shoot is pinched for more lush branching. A mixture of peat, leafy soil and sand is suitable as a soil. The plant does not tolerate hard salted water.
Propagated by root shoots and cuttings, which take root at a low water level in clean river sand.
Peristolnstnnk matogrossa (Myriophyl1um mattogrossensis) is common in Brazil. This plant is a good substrate for spawning and an excellent refuge for fry. Repeatedly dissected leaves help purify water and actively saturate it with oxygen.
(Cabomba) Nymphaeaceae family. Homeland - tropical and subtropical regions of Central and North America. A perennial aquatic plant with graceful green dissected leaves that are underwater and whole floating leaves that float on the surface of the water. The root system is poorly developed, the roots are thin.
The stems can reach a length of 1.5 m. It blooms under water with yellow flowers. In an aquarium, they are planted with bushes and placed in the middle ground as a group or in the background as a background. It is necessary to pinch the shoots so that the plant branches better. Kabomba develops well at a water temperature of 20-25 "C and moderate lighting. It propagates by stem cuttings and root shoots in clean river sand. Varieties of this rather unpretentious plant are often cultivated in aquariums.
Cabomba water (Cabomba aquatica) - grows in stagnant slow-flowing reservoirs of South America. The slightly branched stem reaches a length of 2 m. Propagated by stem cuttings.
Cabomba Gardner (Cabomba piauhyensis gardner) grows in the waters of South America and India. Very beautiful plant with leaves of different shades of green and reddish.
Warming's cabomba (Cabomba warmingii), common in the waters of southern Brazil, has thin, fan-shaped leaves. Also popular are the Caroline cabomba (Cabomba caroliniana) and the southern cabomba (Cabomba australis).
Chastukh family. Homeland - the southern regions of North America. In Latin, sagitta means "arrow", hence the Russian name. This is a beautiful, very graceful plant with a short tuberous rhizome. The dark green leaves growing in water are pointed at the ends, and the above-water ones, sitting on long petioles, have a lanceolate shape.
It develops well in sandy soil at a water temperature of 25-27 "C, but can withstand a decrease to 16 C. Lighting is required strong or medium (about 10 hours a day). With prolonged sunlight, but diffused - without direct rays, the lighting may bloom. White flowers are collected in inflorescences, towering above the water.In order for the arrowhead to live long in the aquarium, it is recommended to grow only underwater leaves, and remove the above-water leaves and flowers in a timely manner.
Arrowhead includes several dozen species growing along the banks of reservoirs. Cultivation of many species in an aquarium is difficult due to the plant's tendency to form emersed leaves. Despite this, about 10 varieties of arrowhead are used in aquariums. The conditions of keeping and breeding for all types of arrowhead are similar. REPRODUCED by seeds and ground shoots that develop in spring.
(Limnophila aquatica). Widespread in tropical regions of Southeast Asia. Very picturesque, strongly growing aquarium plant, perfectly cleans the water. Limnophila prefers clean, well-lit aquariums, as well as water of medium hardness with a temperature of about 30 ° C.
Upon reaching the surface, the plant forms emersed shoots with dense pinnate leaves. The stem is pinched to the first underwater bud, and the top can be planted in a free place like a regular cutting. Propagated by division of basal shoots or division of the stem. Sessile-flowering limnophila (Limnophila sessilj ilora) is cultivated in aquariums; it is common in stagnant and slowly flowing reservoirs of Southeast Asia and Africa.
It has a powerful root system with thin threadlike roots. It develops well with moderate lighting in water of low and medium hardness at a temperature of about 25 "C. Limnophila is an excellent refuge for fry, very actively oxygenates the water in the aquarium. Propagated by cuttings. The plant quickly dies under poor conditions.
(Ludwigia) Fireweed family. Homeland - North and South America. Unpretentious marsh plant, grows well in an aquarium in moderate and strong light, unpretentious to temperature changes. Ludwigia arcuata (Ludwigia arcuata) requires a water temperature of up to 28 ° C, develops well in medium light. It grows in a bush, gives a large number of root shoots.
Propagated by division of the stem or root shoots. Marsh Ludwigia (Ludwigia palustris) is common in southern Europe. A very unpretentious, but not too decorative plant, it develops at any water temperature and not very high illumination of the aquarium. It grows as a bush, propagated by dividing the stem or side shoots.
Ludwigia natans (Ludwigia natans) - hybrid form, Unpretentious perennial flowering plant. The root system consists of one lobe of roots. Grows as a bush with many shoots. Propagated by stem cuttings. Ludwigia krasnolistnaya develops well at a water temperature of about 28 "C and bright light. In low light and low temperature, the leaves become smaller, the red tint disappears on their lower part.
(Eichornia crassipes). Family Pontederiaceae. Homeland - tropical and subtropical regions of America. This plant is also called "water hyacinth". One of the most beautiful floating, but capricious plants. It is grown in rooms. Perennial herbaceous plants - rhizomatous, the root system is highly developed, fibrous, dark. The roots are ciliated, fragile, serve as a refuge for fry. The underwater stem reaches the surface of the water.
Underwater floating leaves have a linear shape, and immersed in water - oval. Blooms in June-September under favorable conditions. Blue, pink, lilac or purple flowers, collected in spike-shaped inflorescences, reach 5 cm in diameter. The plant is warm and photophilous. The water should be soft, and its temperature should not be lower than 22 "C, preferably up to 29" C. Lighting should be bright, in summer a certain amount of sunlight is required.
The plant grows well and develops in silty soil. An aquarium where water hyacinth grows should not be covered with glass. Under good conditions, eichhornia forms many shoots and quickly multiplies with rosettes.
From marine species - sea ruff - scorpionfish, etc. By the way, coral fish, painted to match the bright coral reefs surrounding them, also mimic these "hard" thickets.
Another important point is that aquatic plants are a source of food for many fish. Of course, we must make allowances for our climate, since in winter the amount of vegetation in many water bodies is sharply reduced and the fish must switch to other types of food. Such fish are called facultative phytophages (goldfish, bream, roach, etc.). For them, vegetation is not the main component of the diet, but a tasty and healthy addition to animal organisms.
Even by this food criterion alone, one can draw up a certain picture of underwater inhabitants. For example, if you find filamentous algae fouling on coastal stones, then you can count on a meeting with podust, khramul or roach. When you find planktonic algae in large numbers, then look for silver carp, the same roach and other cyprinids (this is from freshwater) and the Pacific sardine (marine species).
In some regions, well-developed higher aquatic vegetation makes it possible to locate grass carp and rudd. And some fish are very fond of the so-called plant detritus (bottom plant accumulations) - these are young lampreys, podusts, khramuli, marinka, ottomans, etc. By the way, it is very interesting that there are much fewer phytophages among marine fish than among freshwater ones, although in the sea in highly nutritious and tasty algae grow in large quantities, which are often included in artificial feed when breeding fish of many species.
Of course, every medal has a downside. Sometimes higher and lower aquatic plants cause significant harm to water bodies and fish. First of all, it is the flowering of water. Sometimes reservoirs are overgrown with elodea, reed, burr, lake reeds, cattail, pondweed, horsetail. These plants simply physically displace fish from water bodies, violate the hydrochemical regime. Recently, this phenomenon has been combated, as with weeds on land plantations, using mechanical and chemical extermination of weeds. Processing of reservoirs is often carried out with the help of aviation.
In winter, fish in the middle zone have a very tense situation with oxygen, and not only because of the low temperature. Starting from mid-December, part of the aquatic plants of our reservoirs (weeds, egg-pods, elodea, water lilies, etc.) are already dying off, sinking to the bottom in huge quantities and, in the process of decay, absorb so much oxygen that there is little left for the fauna (fish and invertebrates).
Anglers should pay attention to how the aquatic plant relates to the ground. The vast majority of representatives of higher aquatic vegetation take root in the ground. These are pondweed, arrowhead, cattail, burr, reed, horsetail, urut and others. But in the reservoirs there are also free-floating (on the surface, sometimes in the water column), as well as plants with floating leaves (pistia, moss-fontinalis, water paint, marsh flower, water ranunculus, aloe-like telorez, duckweed one- and three-lobed, egg capsule, water lily, walnut water and others).
Many aquatic plants spend their entire life cycle in the water column. Representatives of this group occupy relatively deep places in the coastal zone, descending down to the border, where a sufficient amount of sunlight necessary for plant nutrition still falls. Of the representatives of this group in our waters, you can most often find water mosses, hornwort, hara, nitella.
The next group is plants that mostly live under water, but push flowers into the air. These are pemphigus, urt, pondweed, elodea, buttercup.
The third group is plants that raise their leaves to the surface of the water (water lily, buckwheat, duckweed).
And, finally, the fourth group is plants that expose more or less of their green stems and leaves above the surface of the water. This group includes horsetails, cattails, reeds, reeds, etc.
Coastal thickets of aquatic (and near-water) vegetation surround a wide continuous strip of the shores of lakes, ponds and rivers. Only very open shores of the leeward side of rivers and lakes are devoid of large aquatic plants. As a rule, various types of plants (submerged, or with floating leaves and stems, or rising above water) are arranged in separate bands, grouping mainly depending on the depth and presence of current.
Thickets of aquatic iris, broad-leaved cattail, umbrella susak, branched burbur, string, marsh calla, reeds, reeds, horsetails, etc. stretch over the water surface, forming a thick bristle of narrow, closely standing tall stems and linear leaves above the water surface. It is inconvenient for large and active fish to be among such "hard" vegetation, since, firstly, it is difficult to turn around, and secondly, the fish is often injured on the sharp edges of sedges, ponds, etc.
In addition to "hard" aquatic plants, thickets of "soft" aquatic plants are also found in reservoirs: pierced-leaved, comb-shaped, floating, curly, Canadian elodea, whorled uruti, and dark green hornwort. Such "soft" thickets also pose a danger to fish: juveniles and adults sometimes get entangled in the intricacies of leaves and stems. But on the other hand, near such "soft" thickets one can always find a huge number of juvenile fish, which, in turn, can feed on larger individuals. So if the angler notices branched bushes of such plants under water, he can safely expect fish in this place. If we move further to the central part of the reservoir, we will see that the "hard" vertical plants give way to a number of plants that do not rise above the water level, except for the flowering period. Their leaves either spread out on the water (water lily, arrowhead, etc.), or rise almost to the surface and are perfectly visible through a thin layer of water (elodea, myriophyllums, water mosses, etc.).
Next come those plants that huddle close to the bottom, and it is difficult to detect them, even bending over the water. Often, however, thickets of various types enter one another, mixed plant communities arise, and in connection with this, mixed biocenoses. In such places, a more diverse species composition of fish is observed. The species composition of thickets of aquatic plants can change significantly over time. This is due to the fact that plants deplete the soil, sucking out the salts they need from it, or release harmful substances into the soil (bottom of the reservoir), thereby stopping their further development and dying. In addition, changing weather and climatic conditions, anthropogenic impact on water bodies, etc., significantly affect the species composition of plants.
The fish of our reservoirs have a positive attitude towards most aquatic plants: sedge, water lily with a capsule, reeds, duckweed, etc. After all, plants are oxygen, food, shelter, and a substrate for caviar. The occurring facts of inadequate attitude of fish to seemingly favorite plants can be explained by various reasons. Aquatic plants are very sensitive to environmental pollution, and poisoning of a reservoir, and, consequently, of aquatic vegetation, imperceptible to humans, may well be felt by fish.
Tench and carp are very sensitive to secretions of aquatic plants, so you are unlikely to find these fish in thickets of arrowhead, hornwort or elodea. And other carp fish and pike, on the contrary, are very fond of the smell of arrowhead flowers. Arrowleaf flowers have three white, rounded petals, and their pedicels contain whitish milky juice, which attracts fish. After flowering, arrowhead shoots appear under water, nodules rich in starch and protein, which cyprinids eat with pleasure. By the way, there is 25% more starch in arrowhead tubers than in potato tubers!
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Near the shore, along the edge of aquatic vegetation, many small fish like to walk in flocks, which in turn are of interest to larger predators (for example, pikes). In heavily overgrown water bodies, fish are often found on the border of open water and thickets, and if aquatic plants are found only in small islands, then look for fish near them. it general rules, of which, of course, there are exceptions. Let's start with a well-known aquatic plant - reed. For fish, this is a truly terrible plant, but only in windy weather. During the wind, the reed, the stems of which are very stiff and resemble large straw, emits a strong crackle, rustle and rustle that scare away the fish. So there is almost no chance to find fish in a reservoir among reeds in windy weather. Exceptions are fish with poor hearing - for example, catfish, which in any weather, with any wind, can sit in the dense thickets of this plant. In our reservoirs, reed is found almost everywhere in places with a depth of up to 1.5 m. |
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An interesting fact is that the author of the song "The reeds rustled, the trees bent ..." was absolutely botanically illiterate and confused reeds with reeds! It was the reeds that made noise, frightening the fish and the "beloved couple", and the reeds almost did not make noise in the wind. Reed is a good water filter, the spongy structure of its stems contributes to the delivery of oxygen to the root areas, at the same time enriching the bottom soil, which favorably affects the growth of other plants and the well-being of demersal fish species. For this reason, reeds are often used in artificial ponds where fish and aquatic plants are grown together. For the same reason, reed beds are often chosen by pike and other fish for spawning. In calm weather, among the thickets of reeds, you can find roach, carp, rudd, crucian carp, ide, perch, carp, tench and bream. These fish easily betray their presence among the stems when they make their way through them. Small and medium perches love sparsely growing reeds, their slowly swimming flocks move back and forth along the edge of coastal reed beds. A large perch is more likely to be found at the tip of capes of dense reeds (or reeds) protruding into the reservoir, especially if there is sufficient depth at the vegetation boundary. |
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Unlike the "loud" reed, many species of fish prefer to be in the thickets of reeds. Dense reed beds provide excellent hiding places for prey fish and hunter fish. There are many different invertebrates that feed on carp, carp, crucian carp, bream, juvenile pike, perch and pike perch, as well as white bream, ruff, ide, dace and roach. Outwardly, the reed is easily recognizable - a long smooth dark green stem rises above the surface of the water, on which there are no leaves at all. From above, the reed stalk is thinner than from below, and the length of the "reed" can exceed 5 m! Botanists attribute reeds to the sedge family, although outwardly they do not look alike. Breaking the stalk of reeds, we see a porous mass (reminiscent of yellowish foam), penetrated by a network of air channels that release a lot of oxygen into the water, thereby attracting fish and aquatic invertebrates. Usually reeds form dense thickets near the coast. Carp and carp love the juice of freshly cut reeds; by carefully placing several reed stalks in the water, you can attract these fish to the chosen place. |
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Anglers often confuse cattail, or chakan, with reeds. This is a completely different plant, cattail has a rigid stem, on which wide and long leaves are located. This beauty is completed by a dark brown velvety cob with ripe seeds. Dried stalks of cattail with an ear are often placed at home in vases and then remembered about the catches. Cattail grows in places with a depth of up to 1.0-1.5 m. Most often it is found in small swampy reservoirs. Young tender tops of cattail leaves are eaten by crucian carp, tench, carp and roach. The leaves of a mature plant become coarse, except for cupid. On the other hand, pike likes to use cattail as a substrate for laying eggs, which can be found among both young and old cattail. |
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Almost all of our fish avoid thickets of Canadian elodea, or, as it is also called, "water plague". Elodea acquired this name because of its ability to completely fill the reservoir, displacing and surviving all living things. Only grass carp willingly eats elodea leaves, and sometimes you can still meet pike before spawning. |
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Water horsetails are plants that form many shoots and are prone to overgrowth. Among them, botanists distinguish several dozen species, but usually we are faced with marsh, silty or riverine. Outwardly, horsetail is a very characteristic plant: it has a cylindrical, rather thin, segmented stem, each segment of which is separated from the neighboring one by a ring of small cloves. Horsetails, like reeds, have hollow stems that accumulate oxygen and enrich water with it. This is especially true for fish in winter, in January - February. But be careful! Usually, the ice over a section of the reservoir where horsetails grow in winter is thin, and the angler runs the risk of swimming in such water. |
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Another aquatic plant produces a large amount of oxygen. These are various pondweeds that grow at depths of 2 to 4 m. They cannot bring their leaves to the surface of the water; an attentive angler can see poorly visible flowers that look like small fir cones. All pondweeds are perennial plants. They perfectly endure the winter in our reservoirs, helping the fish survive oxygen starvation. Some pondweeds develop a long rhizome in the ground in winter, which gives new shoots in spring. Dead shoots of pondweed participate in the formation of bottom silt. Aquatic molluscs, insects and some fish species feed on pondweeds. Many fish use these plants as a substrate for spawning. One of the most common pondweeds - comb - outwardly differs from the rest: its stems are branched, and the leaves are thin and narrow. This pondweed is found in shallow water, its flexible stems meander and sway. Its thickets are often inhabited by schools of fry, which attract hungry adult fish. The next common species is the pierced-leaved pondweed. It is most common in our reservoirs, has long branched stems and rounded leaves, as if strung on a stem (hence the name). By the way, it is this pond that owners of water motor vehicles do not like so much - the plants are easily screwed onto the propellers of outboard motors and wound on oars. The tops of young leaves of almost all types of pondweeds are a favorite food for carp, roach, bream, ide, bleak, and carp. In addition to herbivorous fish, many animal-eating fish graze around the ponds, as various invertebrates, insect larvae, mollusks and other aquatic organisms, which are attracted by the high oxygen content, live in the thickets. |
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Another plant popular with our fish is urut. Hydrobotanists distinguish five of its types, among them the most common in our reservoirs are spiked urut and whorled urut. Spicy urut grows at depths of 0.3 to 2 m, and whorled urut grows at depths of 3-4 m. Urut thickets usually grow on silty soils and love calcium-rich water. When the calcium content in the water is high, the leaves of the uruthi become covered with a lime crust. Urut spiky is very sensitive to water temperature and less to light. Underwater meadows from uruti play a very important role in the life of the reservoir. In its thickets there are large accumulations of small invertebrates, which are food for many inhabitants of the reservoir. Flocks of perch and tench love to pluck the leaves of the plant from invertebrates, and the urut itself is an excellent addition to the diet for bream, large roach, ide and other fish. In addition, the urut serves as a substrate for fish eggs and a refuge for the entire animal population of the reservoir, especially for fry. In many water bodies, pike use uruti thickets for ambush. |
Water lily (Water lily) |
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Water lily is a floating plant, which is often called the "water queen", because it is one of the most beautiful and largest flowers of our strip. These plants belong to the genus of water lilies, or nymphaeum, which has about 40 plant species. Sometimes it is called a water lily. Water lilies are extraordinary plants in many ways. They live both in very warm and through freezing water bodies and are distributed almost everywhere: from the forest tundra to the southern tip of the American continent. These amphibious plants are able to live (give leaves, bloom and bear fruit) both in water and on land (if the water level in the reservoir has dropped significantly). Fish highly appreciate both the aromatic qualities of the water lily (many fish are attracted by the smell of its flowers), and the edible ones. By the way, water lily seeds are spread over long distances by fish and birds. The water lily grows at depths of 2.5-3 m, but now this wonderful plant can be found less and less in our reservoirs, and it is listed in the Red Book. Thickets of water lilies in closed reservoirs like carp, carp, crucian carp, roach, bream, tench, perch (small), in rivers - rudd, bleak, ide, pike, roach. The diet of cyprinids includes only the youngest tender leaves, as well as water lily rhizomes, which contain a lot of starch, sugar and vegetable protein. Often thickets of water lilies are scattered in spots along the coastal strip behind the belt of cattail cattail and lake reed. An interesting fact is that water lilies rise to the surface of the water strictly at six o'clock in the morning, open their inflorescences, and close strictly at six in the evening and again go under water. But this applies only to ideal weather, and as soon as bad weather approaches, water lily flowers, regardless of time, go under water, or on such days they are not shown at all. For anglers, the absence of water lily flowers on the surface is a highly visible sign of changing weather. |
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Many people confuse the white water lily and the yellow water lily. The yellow capsule grows at depths of 2.5-3 m and is a characteristic plant of floodplain reservoirs. Carp, roach, crucian carp, carp, bream, pike perch, ruff, tench, bleak, ide, bream, small perch, pike, roach, grass carp and even eel (artificially launched, on Lake Seliger he chose her thickets) . The diet of many cyprinids includes only the most tender young leaves (as in the water lily). Old leaves become tough, rough and unsuitable for fish, but tiny snails and small leeches love to settle on the underside, which are excellent food. Plants can not only injure fish with their sharp edges, but also harm fish at night or in winter (with short daylight hours) because in the dark they absorb oxygen and emit carbon dioxide harmful to fish. Plants are characterized by the process of photosynthesis, which consists of two phases. During the day (in the light), plants actively absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen in an incomparably greater amount than they consume during respiration, that is, they enrich the water with it. In the dark, the absorption of carbon dioxide by plants stops, and they only consume oxygen, which becomes less and less in the water. With the rapid growth of aquatic vegetation and high water temperatures in small lakes, fish can die at night, but even if it does not occur, the activity of searching for food in fish decreases sharply. With the beginning of the light phase, aquatic plants vigorously absorb carbon dioxide and process it into a green mass. An intensive release of oxygen begins, and the feeding activity of the fish is restored. By noon, the process of photosynthesis slows down, there is less oxygen in the water, and the fish are less active. For this reason, the feeding activity of fish in the daytime is reduced compared to dawns: the fish are already satiated. In addition, in winter, at any time of the day, dead plants rot under the ice, absorbing oxygen, especially in stagnant water bodies. It is in these places that the mass death of fish occurs. |
 The duckweed needs no special introduction. Everyone who has been near lakes, ponds or old ditches with water in the summer has seen this plant, covering the surface of the water with a dense emerald carpet. Several types of duckweed, which are members of the duckweed family, are widespread throughout the world, including Russia. These are small plants floating on the surface or in the water column, consisting of fronds - leaf-shaped stems, fastened several pieces together, from which a single short thread-like root extends. At the base of the leaf there is a lateral pocket in which a tiny inflorescence can develop, consisting of two staminate and one pistillate flowers. In natural reservoirs, duckweeds rarely bloom. Flowers have a simple structure: stamens consist of only one stamen, and pistils have one pistil; there are no petals or sepals in such flowers. During the warm period of time, the plant reproduces vegetatively, with the help of young fronds that separate from the mother plant. Duckweed winters in the form of buds, sinking to the bottom along with a dead plant. Three-lobed duckweed grows relatively weakly, lives in the water column and rises to the surface during flowering. Differs in green translucent spoon-shaped leaves 5-10 mm long. The fronds are interconnected for a long time, forming balls floating in the water column and floating to the surface during flowering. Duckweed strongly branches and forms a blanket of small bright green leaves with one root at the bottom on the surface of the water. Very rarely flowers appear in May-June.
Multi-rooted duckweed, or ordinary multi-rooted duckweed - Lemna rolurhyza \u003d Spirodela rolurhyza Multi-rooted duckweed is not very common in the same reservoirs where two types of duckweed grow abundantly. From the underside of each stalk, which has a rounded ovoid shape, a bunch of reddish or white roots departs. Blooms rarely in May-June. In a polyroot, the upper side of the leaf blade is dark green in color, with clearly visible arcuate veins, and the underside, immersed in water, is purple-purple. Plate up to 6 mm in diameter. All these types of duckweed are cold-resistant and photophilous. They live in ponds with stagnant or slowly flowing water. When caring for a reservoir, it is necessary to constantly catch a part of the population or, by cleaning the water, create conditions that are not conducive to rapid growth. Reproduction is mainly vegetative and very fast. Each stalk, similar to a small leaf, buds off rather quickly new and new parts of the stalks, which, still having a connection with the main stalks, give rise to new young plants. Species with individuals floating on the surface of the water can completely “drag out” a small reservoir in a short time. Duckweed duckweed and multi-rooted duckweed are especially aggressive. These plants are rarely deliberately introduced into the reservoir. More often they get there with the help of birds, frogs, newts and when transplanting other plants. It is difficult to completely get rid of duckweed, but its numbers can be limited by driving plants to one place with a net or a jet of water from a garden hose, and then catching with the same net. The extracted mass can be used for compost production and as bird feed. These plants clean water from carbon dioxide and supply oxygen, serve as food for fish and protection from sunlight. But despite this, duckweed should never be deliberately introduced into the reservoir, since once it has appeared in your pond, it will be almost impossible to eradicate it. Also, be careful when bringing other plants into the pond - make sure that there are no duckweeds on the plant itself and in the water. |
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Usually there are two types of duckweed Small duckweed (L. minor) - see picture on the left and Three-lobed duckweed (L. trisulca) - see picture on the right. Lesser duckweed inhabits many water bodies and multiplies extremely rapidly. The most common pond plant with flat elliptical leaves 3-4.5 mm long, floating on the surface of the water.
Material taken from the site:
Decorative ponds are widely used in landscape design. A mirror pond, a winding stream, an artificial waterfall give the park area or backyard a unique look. Luxurious greenery and flowering aquatic plants create a picturesque composition of a miniature or large reservoir.
Varieties of aquatic plants
Flora living in a reservoir serves not only as an ornament. It acts as a natural filter, absorbing organic debris and bacteria. Maintains purity and transparency of water, saturating it with oxygen. Large leaves reflect the sun's rays on a hot summer day and protect the water surface from overheating.
Turtles, fish, snails and other inhabitants of the reservoir feel good in the shade of sprawling thickets. Features of the ecosystem of a natural or artificial pond depend on which plants grow in the water.
Several groups can be distinguished:
- deep sea;
- floating;
- coastal and moisture-loving;
- oxygenators or purifiers.
When choosing plants, you need to consider the location of the reservoir and its illumination. Many ornamental aquatic species need 5-6 hours of direct sunlight per day to grow and bloom.
Some species do well in more shaded areas. The water surface occupied by plants should not exceed 1/5 of the total area of the reservoir.
deep sea species
This group includes most flowering plants that take root in the ground and need good sunlight. They are planted in the central part of the pond. The depth must be at least half a meter. Names of water plants used for decorative purposes:
Floating water chestnut - a plant from the Red Book of Russia
floating plants
These species have a developed root system and absorb nutrients directly from the water. They are not fixed in the ground. For them, a small depth is sufficient. Free-floating roots give shelter to small inhabitants of the reservoir. These plants are biological filters. They grow rapidly in the pond, so pruning and removal of excess shoots is necessary. The most popular among them:
Features of building a pond with your own hands at their summer cottage
Coastal and moisture-loving varieties
Grows well in shallow water and along coastlines. Most often they perform a decorative function. The most common of them:
common reed plant
Pond cleaners
Oxygenators are used to purify and filter water. They absorb carbon dioxide, release oxygen and prevent water blooms, preventing algae from actively multiplying. Most of the plant is below the surface. They are used as cleaners.