Volume IV (1988) - Flora of New Zealand Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons
Copy a link to this page Cite this record

Nymphaea alba L.

*N. alba L., Sp. Pl.  510  (1753)

water lily

Aquatic herb. Rhizome creeping, stout; brood-bodies 0. Lvs suborbicular to elliptic with deep, slightly spreading basal sinus, entire, glabrous, not brown-blotched, (6)-10-25 × (6)-10-25 cm; basal lobes not usually over-lapping. Sepals 4, lanceolate, acute, white above, green beneath, obscurely veined, decaying after flowering, 40-70 × 15-25 mm. Petals usually white, rarely pink, veined, 50-90 × 20-30 mm. Filaments of innermost stamens c. 1 mm wide. Stigma flat; rays 14-20. Seeds 2-3 mm long.

N.: Northland, Waikato, Hawke's Bay, Wanganui, Wellington; S.: Nelson, Westland, Canterbury; St.: Mason Bay.

N. temperate regions 1950

Rivers, lakes, tarns and pools, lowland to montane.

Water lilies may have been originally planted in many localities but have spread to cover large areas in some cases. Many of the cvs are of hybrid origin. The description above includes such hybrids. Small plants have been referred to as N. occidentalis (Ostenf.) Moss, but, according to Tutin, T. G., in Fl. Europ. 1: 205 (1964), these do not merit sp. rank.

Click to go back to the top of the page
Top