Swamp Wetland Plants

Carnivorous Plants

• These unique plants grow in nutrient-poor wetland soil, and get most of their nutrition by digesting captured insects, arachnids and other small animals. Carnivorous plants include the Venus flytrap, originally native only to coastal wetlands in North and South Carolina; the pitcher plant, which traps insects in its hooded pitcher structure; and the sundew, which has sticky hairs to capture insects. These plants require high humidity, bright light and acidic soil to grow properly.

Cypress

• Cypress trees are notable for their knees, root outgrowths that extend above the water, and for their buttressed trunks. Two main kinds grow in swamps in the southeastern United States--pond cypress and bald cypress. Several other species of cypress also grow outside wetlands. Swamp species prefer areas that are flooded much of the time, and can survive long periods of inundation. According to the University of Florida, these trees grow in water up to three feet deep, and grow in a range of wet soils. Pond cypress is well suited for low-nutrient acidic soil.

Mangrove

• Mangroves are swamp shrubs capable of withstanding relatively high levels of salinity and flooded soils. They're common estuary plants and grow in a range from southern Florida to Texas, along the U.S. Gulf Coast. According to the EPA, most mangroves in the United States are black mangroves, but some swamps also feature red mangroves, which have arched roots, and white mangroves, which grow farther inland. Mangrove trees provide shelter for a range of wetland animals.

Skunk Cabbage

• This foul-smelling swamp plant is one of the wetlands' earliest spring leafy plants. According to the EPA, sprouting skunk cabbage actually melts the snow around it as it grows. The plant's unpleasant odor actually benefits it, attracting flies and other carrion eaters, which pollinate the skunk cabbage and enable it to produce seeds. By mid-summer, the plant begins to decay, its leaves turning into pools of slime, and the herbaceous part of the plant disappears by August, leaving behind a large root system.