Ornamental flowering plants are more than attractive, they can also help to clean up water pollution. Fertilizers and manure on farms are loaded with phosphorus, nitrogen, and other nutrients that get washed away by rain and flushed into waterways. Algae can then feed on the nutrients and grow so rapidly that they starve the water of oxygen, killing off fish and contaminating entire ecosystems.To clean up this pollution, scientists in Miami experimented with using flowering plants floating on waterways, inspired by ancient Aztec floating farms in Mexico.
Read more on The Guardian.