Iowa Wetland Plants

Cattail

• Growing in dense clumps in shallow waters, cattails can stretch up to eight feet tall. Long, flat leaves sprout from the base of the plant, arcing out. Thick brown spikes form on top of long stalks. These spikes contain the seeds of the cattail and often produce a short spiny stem that protrudes from the top of the cattail spike. According to the Iowa Association of Naturalists, muskrats favor the cattail, eating the tubers and building their nests from the stiff plant stalks.

Coontail

• Coontail grows in waters deeper than three feet. The long fluffy tendrils of coontails fan out beneath the water's surface, resembling furry tails. A lookalike to another submerged plant called watermill, the main difference lies in that coontails produce branching growth, while the watermill grows in single stems with whirls of fine leaves.

Duckweed

• A minuscule plant that covers waters surfaces like fine green carpet, duckweed is one of the smallest flowering plants in the world, according to the Iowa Association of Naturalists. Tiny rootlets attached to each leaf gather nutrients directly from the water. Ducks and geese feed prolifically on these tiny plants.

Marsh Marigold

• Water-loving flowers like the marsh marigold provide a contrast to the green of many of the wetland plants. These flowers grow along small streams and in shallow wetlands. The marsh marigold blooms into star-shaped yellow-orange flowers about one inch in diameter. This short plant grows no higher than two feet.

Smartweed

• Considered a wet-meadow plant that grows in areas that are only wet seasonally, smartweed or pinkweed can reach up to six feet, often growing in a horizontal manner. Small pink or red flowers bloom from July to September and give way to nutlets. Wildlife like ducks and geese feed on the nutlets of the smartweed.

White Water Lily

• Seen floating docile on the surface of water, the leaves, or pads, of the white water lily measure up to a foot in diameter. White flowers ranging from three to five inches start blooming in June. These flowers emit a pleasant fragrance, giving the white water lily the nickname of fragrant water lily.