Water lily
Water lilies are without doubt the most beautiful aquatic plants. They are used in ponds, sunny courtyards as they can be successfully grown in a variety of water-filled pottery containers, wooden barrels, old kitchen sinks, water features and aquariums. They are simple to grow. All they need is full sun, some good soil and at least 30 cm of still water. Full sun is necessary for the plants to grow vigorously and produce flowers as well as for the flowers to open during the day.
The leaves show many interesting adaptations to their watery environment. The margins are slightly rolled inwards toward the uppermost side (involute) which helps keep the blades afloat. The underside of the leaf, which is continually wet, has a strong attraction to the water and this holds the leaf flat against the water. The veins act like a structural support for the leaves. The upper leaf surface is coated with a smooth waxy cuticle, which gives it the appearance of being leathery and shiny. This water-repellent waxy layer is of vital importance to the plant, not only to help prevent the leaf from sinking, but also to prevent the tiny stomatal pores, through which it breathes, from becoming clogged with dust. When water splashes onto the leaf surface, it forms rounded droplets that roll across the surface cleaning up the dust as they go. Clean dust-free leaves are also better able to photosynthesise effectively.
Another problem facing aquatic plants is the supply of oxygen to their roots. Roots must constantly be supplied with oxygen to stay healthy and the water lily’s roots are buried in poorly aerated pond mud and therefore cannot get oxygen they way normal plants do. It has overcome this difficulty by developing a system of large internal ducts throughout the leaves, petioles and roots which ferries the oxygen from the leaves to the roots.
Native to: Afghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Alberta, Algeria, Altay, Amur, Andaman Is., Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arkansas, Assam, Austria, Bahamas, Baleares, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, British Columbia, Bulgaria, Burkina, Burundi, Buryatiya, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Central European Rus, Chad, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Connecticut, Corse, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Denmark, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, East European Russia, East Himalaya, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, Florida, France, Free State, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Hainan, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Idaho, Illinois, India, Indiana, Inner Mongolia, Iowa, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Irkutsk, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jawa, Kamchatka, Kansas, Kazakhstan, Kentucky, Kenya, Khabarovsk, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Lebanon-Syria, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Louisiana, Madagascar, Magadan, Maine, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Manchuria, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mauritania, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Mongolia, Montana, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nebraska, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Brunswick, New Guinea, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New South Wales, New York, Newfoundland, Nicaragua, Nicobar Is., Niger, Nigeria, North Carolina, North Caucasus, North European Russi, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Northwest European R, Northwest Territorie, Norway, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oman, Ontario, Pakistan, Palestine, Panamá, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Primorye, Prince Edward I., Puerto Rico, Queensland, Québec, Rhode I., Romania, Rwanda, Sakhalin, Saskatchewan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Carolina, South European Russi, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sumatera, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Transcaucasus, Trinidad-Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Tuva, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Vermont, Vietnam, Virginia, Washington, West Himalaya, West Siberia, West Virginia, Western Australia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Xinjiang, Yakutskiya, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Yukon, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Extinct in: Sardegna, Sicilia
Introduced into: Arizona, Ascension, California, Chile Central, Chile South, Colorado, Cook Is., Fiji, Mauritius, Nevada, New Mexico, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Oregon, Seychelles, Society Is., Tubuai Is., Utah, Victoria
- GPS
- 11.8776293, 75.5774536
- Geographical region
- Southern Asia
- Drainage Basin
- Arabian Sea
- River catchment
- Water body type
- River
- Water body name
- Anjarakandy
- Water body part
- Water body course
- Middle course
- Water body: tributary of
- Tributary name
- Type locality
- Conservation status/IUCN Red List
- Not Evaluated (NE)
- Listed in CITES
- No
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