Some more pics, and look at what has emerged in some of the pics! Hope this emergent "thing" helps ID the plant!
Note the water level has dropped as it always does this time of year. So in the Spring this is underwater and as Summer progresses the level drops. These plants were in 12 inches of water 2 months ago and gradually dropping since. Note that beneath the leaf cover and crud the "soil" is very moist and spongy.
So a lot of these plants that were underwater in February and then gradually rising out of the water from then til now have these "spike balls". Not all of them, but a lot of them. And I did NOT have a lot of time to study, but it appears the plants now out of the water have the spike balls while the ones still submerged in whole or 75% or more do not have these spike balls.
Does this help anyone ID the plant? It is a round "stem" with these soft spike balls. They are soft, not hard, and not spikey like thorns but soft spikes like an eraser.
