Nymphaea odorata
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Photo courtesy Renee Brecht |
USDA Plants Database |
| Botanical name: | Nymphaea odorata |
| Common name: | white waterlily; fragrant waterlily |
| Group: | dicot |
| Family: | Nymphaeaceae |
| Growth type: | forb/herb |
| Duration: | perennial |
| Origin: | native |
| Plant height: | just above the water surface |
| Foliage: | floating leaves, circular with a notch to the center, on stalks from long rhizomes in the mud |
| Flower: | many petals, white to pinkish. A number of hybrids have been created in a variety of colors |
| Flowering time: | early June to late September |
| Habitat: | ponds, lakes, and sluggish streams |
| Range in New Jersey: | statewide |
| Heritage ranking, if any: | n/a |
| Distribution: |  |
| Misc. | Very aromatic. Beaver, muscrat, and deer eat the leaves and roots; waterfowl eat the seeds. They provide cover for fish and frog. They are considered a nuisance in some areas because they grow in dense stands, making canoeing, kayaking, etc., difficult, and making oxygenation of the difficult. |