How
do the roots of plants get air?
Underwater
roots of plants usually have cut ends on the plants' stems. If you look
hard enough you will notice that aquatic plants have large air spaces,
but a non wetland plant stem is much denser, without large spaces. The
stems of aquatic plants are made of spongy tissue and full of holes.
Air travels from the leaves above water, through the holey stem and down
to the roots to give air. If you look at a water lily stem you will
notice the large size of the air spaces. Water lilies have floating leaves
attached to long, flexible underwater stems. The stems must have large
air spaces to make them light and elastic, or their weight would drag the
leaves under the water. Sedge stems have smaller air spaces. They need
to be stiffer and stronger than the water lily stems to support their
leaves and flowers in the air.
This is a picture
of a water lily

This is a picture of a Cattail.
Submergent Plants
Submergent plants unlike emergent plants do not grow above thewater's surface.
The submergent plants in a marsh may be the same species as those in the
deep water environment farther from shore. Some of these plants include
coon tail, water milfoil, and bushy pond weed.
This is a picture of a

This is a picture of duckweed
By. Alyssa A.
This page was created by the Osseo-Fairchild sixth grade students supported
by a Cluster A Goals 2000 Grant
Created 4/8/1999 Updated 4/8/1999
sdp
You may contact us at: spoore@mail.ofsd.k12.wi.us