Aquatic plant

Aquatic plant

Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or aquatic macrophytes. These plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water, or at the water's surface. Aquatic plants can only grow in water or in soil that is...

s are used to give the aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 a natural appearance, oxygenate the water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

, and provide habitat

Habitat (ecology)

A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...

 for fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

, especially fry (babies) and for invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

s. Some aquarium fish and invertebrates also eat live plants. Hobbyists use aquatic plants for aquascaping

Aquascaping

Aquascaping is the craft of arranging aquatic plants, as well as rocks, stones, cavework, or driftwood, in an aesthetically pleasing manner within an aquarium—in effect, gardening under water. Aquascape designs include a number of distinct styles, including the garden-like Dutch style and the...

, with one aesthetic style spearheaded by Japanese aquarist Takashi Amano

Takashi Amano

is a photographer, designer and Aquarist.His interest in aquaria led him to create the Japanese company Aqua Design Amano.Takashi Amano is one of the most influential people in the freshwater aquascaping community. He can largely be credited with introducing Japanese gardening concepts such as...

.

Most of these plant species are found either partially or fully submersed in their natural habitat. Although there are a handful of obligate aquatic plants that must be grown entirely under water, most can grow fully emersed if the soil is moist.

Listed alphabetically by scientific name

The taxonomy

Alpha taxonomy

Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. This field is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include natural history museums, herbaria and...

 of most plant genera is not final. Scientific names listed here may therefore contradict other sources.

Common aquarium plant species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

:

False aquatics or pseudo-aquarium plants

Several species of terrestrial plants are frequently sold as "aquarium plants". While such plants are beautiful and can survive and even flourish for months under water, they will eventually die and must be removed so their decay does not contaminate the aquarium water.

• Acorus gramineus
  Acorus gramineus
  Acorus gramineus Sol. Aiton is a botanical species belonging to the family of Acorus.-Origin:Native to Japan in eastern Asia, where it usually occurs in wetlands and shallow water.-Description:...
  
   var. pusilus (Dwarf sedge, Japanese rush)
• Acorus gramineus
  Acorus gramineus
  Acorus gramineus Sol. Aiton is a botanical species belonging to the family of Acorus.-Origin:Native to Japan in eastern Asia, where it usually occurs in wetlands and shallow water.-Description:...
  
   var. variegatus (Dwarf sedge, Japanese rush)
• Aglaonema modestum (Chinese Evergreen)
• Aglaonema simplex
• Chlorophytum bichetii (Pongol sword)
• Dracaena sanderiana
  Dracaena sanderiana
  Dracaena sanderiana is a species of the genus Dracaena. The species was named after the German-English gardener Henry Frederick Conrad Sander . It is also known as Dracaena braunii, Ribbon Dracaena, Lucky Bamboo, Belgian Evergreen or sometimes Ribbon PlantD...
  
  (Striped dragonplant)
• Hemigraphis colorata (Crimson ivy)
• Ophiopogon japonicus (Fountain plant)
• Pilea cadairei (Aluminum plant)
• Sciadopitys verticillata)
  Sciadopitys
  The Koyamaki , or Japanese Umbrella-pine, is a unique conifer endemic to Japan. It is the sole member of the family Sciadopityaceae and genus Sciadopitys, a living fossil with no close relatives, and known in the fossil record for about 230 million years.Its genus name comes from the Greek prefix...
  
  (Umbrella pine, Koyamaki)
• Spathiphyllum tasson (Brazil Sword)
• Syngonium podophyllum (Stardust ivy)

See also

• List of freshwater aquarium fish species
• Aquascaping
  Aquascaping
  Aquascaping is the craft of arranging aquatic plants, as well as rocks, stones, cavework, or driftwood, in an aesthetically pleasing manner within an aquarium—in effect, gardening under water. Aquascape designs include a number of distinct styles, including the garden-like Dutch style and the...