PLANTS WITH OVAL OR OBLONG FLOATING LEAVES dot or cover shallow 

 inland fresh waters, particularly in the North. These slender-stalked 

 leaves are near the ends of stems in pondweeds, smartweeds, Watershield 

 and Longleaf Mudplantain; grow in clusters from the bottom in Broadleaf 

 Waterplantain, Upright Burhead and Water Arrowhead. When water levels 

 drop, floating-type leaves are sometimes left growing on wet mud. 



The pondweeds also have underwater leaves which have different 

 shapes than the floating ones and are flimsy and often broken from wear 

 and decay. Both kinds of leaves have fine, closely-placed, lengthwise- 

 running veins. The non-pondweeds have differently veined floating 

 leaves and no underwater leaves. 



The pictures of the upper parts of stems show top views of 

 floating leaves and side views of stems and underwater leaves. 



