The saw grass, or Cladium jamaicense, is an emergent plant found near the marshy shores and wet ditches of Lake Okeechobee. These plants are named for the saw-like edges on the tip of the plant. This flowering plant is herbaceous, meaning it wilts in the winter and regrows in the spring. The blossoming period for saw grass is during the late spring and summer; saw grass' flowers resemble brown, rusty spikes. The height of adult saw grass plants is 9 feet tall. Another local name for saw grass is "Everglades river grass."
Found near the shorelines of Lake Okeechobee, the duck potato, or Sagittaria lancifolia, is a tall, perennial plant with white flowers along the plant's stalk. This plant is emergent and receives its name from the potato-shaped corms at the base of the plant. A corm is a thick stem used for food storage. The middle section of the duck potato features four-inch long leaves. Above the leaves, this plant has a foot-tall stalk with three-petaled flowers. The blossoming period for duck potatoes is typically during the summer months.
Tape grass, or Vallisneria Americana, is a submerged plant that grows in freshwater lakes and streams throughout Florida, including Lake Okeechobee. This grass is one of the few native underwater species found in the Sunshine State. Tape grass is also known as eel grass. When mature, tape grass grows up to four feet tall and one inch in width. Tape grass produces white petal flowers; flowers on some of the tallest tape grass specimens rise above the surface of the water.
The big floating bladderwort, or Utricularia inflata, is a floating flowering plant found on Lake Okeechobee's surface. This perennial plant is carnivorous and dines on invertebrates and small minnows. These bladderworts capture their food by using small underwater pods, called "bladders," to trap their prey. Big floating bladderwort floats on the water and does not have to root into the ground for subsistence. The plant's flower is yellow and resembles a snapdragon. The blossoming period for this flower is January through June. Big floating bladderworts have become invasive in states outside the Southeast region, including Washington and Massachusetts.