American White Waterlily
Nymphaea odorata
Also known as: Fragrant Waterlily
The classic native waterlily — round floating pads and many-petaled white flowers with a golden center that open on calm summer mornings with a sweet fragrance. Roots in pond muck and spreads by rhizome; the pads shade and cool the water for fish and frogs.
- Family
- Nymphaeaceae
- Type
- wildflower
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 0.2–0.6 ft
- Spacing
- 3–6 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- wet
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- June, July, August, September
- Bloom colors
- white, yellow
- Wildlife value
- pollinators
- Landscape uses
- rain garden, naturalizing
- Native states
- AK, AL, AR, CA, CT, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, WI