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Aponogeton distachyos
Also called Water Hawthorn, Cape Hawthorn, Cape Pond Lily, Cape Asparagus, Riverine Weed, Common Waterblommetjie
Cape pondweed is a tuberous aquatic plant whose floating leaves and scented flower spikes rise above the water, grown in ponds and aquariums. Sources describe the species itself, not a genus; its key need is planting depth and full sun or partial shade.
Aponogeton distachyos or Aponogeton distachyum, also known as waterblommetjie (lit. trans. water-floret), Cape-pondweed, water hawthorn, vleikos and Cape pond weed is an aquatic flowering plant.
It is widely cultivated in South Africa for its edible buds and flowers, used in the recipe waterblommetjiebredie.
It is also used as an aquarium and pond plant. It was introduced to Europe in the seventeenth century, and later into other parts of the world. It has escaped into the wild and has become widely naturalised in Australia, and more locally in France and England. In North America it is naturalised in southern and western California.
Aponogeton abyssinicus · Aponogeton azureus · Aponogeton bernierianus · Aponogeton boivinianus · Aponogeton capuronii · Crinkled Aponogeton · Aponogeton lakhonensis · Aponogeton longiplumulosus · Lace Plant · Drifting Sword Plant · Sehlabathebe Waterblommetjie · Aponogeton rigidifolius
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Aponogeton distachyos by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
