Depth, alkalinity, pH, and conductivity distributions; substrate preference; and turbidity tolerance were used to explain species groupings formed by association analysis for 62 species of Wisconsin lake plants. Three out of five plant groups could be largely explained by substrate. Turbidity tolerance helped define differences between hard and soft substrate species. Water chemistries explained species groupings within soft substrate species and among a group of plants that did not commonly associate with other species. The habitat factors and adaptations studied did not successfully explain a group of plants found in “mesic” water chemistries and varying substrate and turbidity conditions.