The bay head is usually formed when a willow head fills up with peat sufficiently for other trees to grow there. Typical plants found there are swamp holly, red bay, sweet bay, wax myrtle, and coco plums. Marshland is treeless land in which the water table is at, above, or just below the surface of the ground. Marshes are located around fresh or salt water. Freshwater marshes are in shallow margins of lakes and slow moving rivers.
Salt marshes occur on coastal tidal flats.
The nature of the marsh is influenced by the ecosystem. Some marshes, such as the Everglades' sawgrass wetlands, have water flowing like a sheet across the surface. In other marshes water flows through channels called sloughs. Marshes provide nesting spots for many animals such as waterfowl and shorebirds, otters, frogs, and many insects. Salt water marshes are wintering homes for many birds such as ducks, herons, and rails.