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Home  /  Plants  /  Budburst Species  /  Nymphaea odorata
Phenology Observation Sheet for Wildflowers and Herbs

COMMON NAME

Water lily

SCIENTIFIC NAME

Nymphaea odorata

ALSO KNOWN AS

American white waterlily, fragrant water-lily, beaver root

Plant family

Water-lily (Nymphaeaceae)

Plant group

Wildflowers and Herbs

An aquatic herb that roots from rhizomes in the muck. Long leaf stalks are topped by large floating leaves and floating flowers.
104 reports
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OBSERVERS
104+
OBSERVATIONS
!

Identification hints

The American water-lily flowers open in the morning and usually close by noon. This can help distinguish it from the small white water lily (N. tetragona) which typically opens in the afternoon, and also has smaller flowers and fewer petals.
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Did you know?

The tiny pores that plants use for gas exchange, called stomata, are on the upper surface of the American water lily leaf. In most plants, stomata are found on the lower side of a leaf.
DISTRIBUTION IN TH U.S.
Alaska , Alabama , Arkansas , Arizona , California , Colorado , Connecticut , District of Columbia , Delaware , Florida , Georgia , Iowa , Idaho , Illinois , Indiana , Kansas , Kentucky , Louisiana , Massachusetts , Maryland , Maine , Michigan , Minnesota , Missouri , Mississippi , Montana , North Carolina , Nebraska , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New Mexico , Nevada , New York , Ohio , Oklahoma , Oregon , Pennsylvania , Puerto Rico , Rhode Island , South Carolina , South Dakota , Tennessee , Texas , Utah , Virginia , Vermont , Washington , Wisconsin , West Virginia
HABITAT
Found growing in ponds and other permanent slow moving waters.
ATTRIBUTES
Leaves
The waxy leaves are up to 10" across bright green, and circular with a narrow notch that cuts nearly to the center. The leaves float flat on the water surface with a long leaf stem (petiole) tethering them to the pond bottom.
Flowers
A single white 2-6" wide flower is borne atop a long flower stalk. The flower has many rows of numerous petals and numerous yellow stamens in the middle. Petals are up to 4" long, wider at the base, narrowing and becoming pointed at the tip.
Fruits
Once the flowers are pollinated, the fruit is pulled down under the water where it matures into a leathery, berry-like oval capsule.
Bloom Time
Typically blooms from May to September.

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