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Nymphoides peltata
Also called Fringed Waterlily, Yellow floatingheart, Yellow Floating Heart, Floating Heart, Water Fringe
Fringed water-lily is a rooted aquatic perennial with floating, heart-shaped leaves and clusters of yellow flowers. It grows best in calm, slow-moving fresh water, and it can spread aggressively, so it is often controlled as a weed outside its native range.
Nymphoides peltata, the fringed water-lily is perennial, rooted aquatic plant with floating leaves of the family Menyanthaceae. Synonyms include Menyanthes nymphoides L., Villarsia nymphoides, Limnanthemum peltatum S.G.Gmel., Nymphoides nymphoides (L.) Britton, and other vernacular names include yellow floating heart, floating heart, water fringe, and entire marshwort.
It is native throughout most of Europe (excluding Ireland and Scandinavia) and temperate Asia, and locally in Algeria in northwest Africa.
N. peltata is a freshwater species and does not occur in waters with an average salinity exceeding about 300 mg/L. N. peltata is most commonly found in slow-moving rivers, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, but it can also establish in swamps and wetlands. It is also known to occur in ditches, canals, break-through pools of dikes, and backwaters, especially those subject to winter flooding. The presence of N. peltata can signal an environment with water movement.
N. peltata is an edible plant. Leaves and flowers are cooked as a potherb, and so are the stems, but only the interior of the stem is eaten. Seeds are ground and used for other culinary purposes. The fresh leaves are commonly used to treat headaches.
Big floatingheart · Nymphoides balakrishnanii · Wavy Marshwort · Entire Marshwort · Crested Floating Heart · Water snowflake · Nymphoides montana · Nymphoides spinulosperma
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Nymphoides peltata 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.
