Floating and Submerged Plants of Utah: Pocket Field Guide

This is a field guide to identifying floating and submerged plants of Utah. We include a page for each species and also a dichotomous key at the end for the pondweeds. Submerged and floating plant species play critical roles in aquatic ecosystems. They provide habitat to aquatic organisms, improve water clarity by trapping sediment, and absorb excess nutrients from the water column, among other vital services. However, they have been threatened and degraded by pollution, land conversion, and introductions of harmful species. Identifying native and non-native plants is an important component of tackling this degradation and promoting the conservation and restoration of aquatic plant communities.