Floating on still water, this plant bears the largest flower of any British native, white and up to 20 cm across
White water-lily, Nymphaea alba.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
White water-lily
Native · flowers Jun–Aug · still and slow fresh water
Nymphaea alba — Nymphaeaceae
Britain's largest native flower floats on lakes, ponds, canals and slow rivers, rooted in the mud beneath rounded, leathery pads that can reach 30 cm across. The big white flowers open in the morning sun and close again in the afternoon. The Wildlife Trusts report it as absent from northern Scotland and south-west England.
How to spot them
- ▸Pure white, many-petalled flowers up to about 20 cm across, floating flat on the surface around a golden boss of stamens
- ▸Near-circular floating leaves with a deep cleft running in to the stalk, up to 30 cm across
- ▸Rooted in the bottom, in water up to about 5 m deep (Wildlife Trusts), on long rubbery stalks
- ▸Look-alike: yellow water-lily has small yellow, bowl-shaped flowers held above the water, and oval leaves with only a shallow notch
- ▸Look-alike: garden hybrids planted in ponds often have pink or red flowers, and sometimes escape
How to know it
Round leathery pads up to 30 cm wide float on long stalks, each cut by a deep slit to the stalk, above a mass of mud-dwelling rhizomes
White water-lily.
The big white flowers open in the morning and close again in the afternoon, on lakes and canals
White water-lily.
The genus name honours the water nymphs of classical mythology; the species name means 'white'
Nymphaea alba — white water-lily.
Grows in still or slow-moving water up to 5 m deep, its flowers and leaves floating at the surface on long stalks
White water-lily, according to the Wildlife Trusts.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Nymphaeaceae, the water-lily family, which also contains the giant Amazonian Victoria water-lilies
- •The Wildlife Trusts call it the UK's largest flower, up to 20 cm across, with leaves up to 30 cm
- •Grows in still and slow-moving water up to 5 m deep — the leaf-stalks stretch to reach the surface
- •The Wildlife Trusts give its range as throughout the UK except northern Scotland and south-west England
- •Flowers open in the morning and close in the afternoon
- •Leaves shelter frogs and the flowers give early insect nectar; water-lily beetles and china-mark moth larvae feed on the pads
- •Pink and red garden hybrids planted in ponds are sometimes mistaken for it
- •alba is Latin for white, the counterpart of lutea, yellow, in the yellow water-lily Nuphar lutea
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Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — White water-lily