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Nymphaea odorata

Nymphaea odorata: Flower
Photo by Derrick Ditchburn. High resolution version

Common name:	Fragrant Water Lily	Family:	Nymphaeaceae
Author:	Aiton.	Botanical references:	60, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	N. America - Newfoundland to Kansas, Mexico and Cuba.
Habitat:	Lakes, bog pools and slow rivers[187].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	4	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Castalia alba[G] Castalia lekophylla[B,P] Castalia minor[B,P] Castalia odorata[B,P] Castalia reniformis[B,P] Castalia tuberosa[P] N. alba[DUTCH,E,G,H,HPIC,HORTIPLEX,L,P] N. minor[B,P] N. odorata ssp. odorata[B] N. odorata var. gigantea[B,P] N. odorata var. godfreyi[B,P] N. odorata var. maxima[P] N. odorata var. minor[B,P] N. odorata var. rosea[B,P] N. odorata var. stenopetala[B,P] N. odorata var. villosa[B,P] N. tuberosa[P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	American White Water-lily [B], American White Waterlily [P], Beyaz Nilufer [E], European White Waterlily [P], Fragrant Water Lily [S], Kokulu Nilufer [E], Nenufar Blanco [E], Pond Lily, White Or Fragrant [S], Pondlily,White [E], White Or Fragrant Pond Lily [S], White Pond Lily [H,S], White Water-lily [L], Witte Waterlelie [D],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	odorata = scented odora = fragrant phaea = dusky
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Nymphaeales. Water-lily family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Spain Turkey Us Us(Amerindian) Us(Pa) Us(Sc)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Flies. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 4/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond.

Edible Uses

Flowers Leaves Root Seed.

Flower buds - cooked as a vegetable or pickled[55, 105, 177, 183].
Young flowers - raw[55].
Leaves - raw or cooked[207]. Used in soups and stews[55, 177, 183].
Root[105, 183]. Boiled or roasted[207].
Ripe seed - cooked or ground into a meal[207].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Anodyne Antiseptic Astringent Cancer Demulcent TB.

The root is alterative, anodyne, antiseptic, astringent and demulcent[4, 21, 165, 238]. A tea made from the roots is used in the treatment of TB, chronic bronchial complaints, diarrhoea, dysentery, gastrointestinal inflammation, gonorrhoea, vaginal discharge, inflamed glands, mouth sores and to stop bleeding[222, 238].
A poultice made from the roots is used in the treatment of swellings, boils, tumours, inflamed skin, vaginitis etc[222, 238]. The roots are harvested in the autumn once the plant has died down, and are dried for later use[238].
A complete cure of uterine cancer by a decoction and uterine injection has been recorded[4].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A water plant requiring a rich soil and a sunny position in still or slowly flowing water that is at least 30cm deep[55, 200, 238]. An over-rich soil, or growing the plant in water that is too deep, inhibits flowering[238]. Prefers a pH between 6 and 7[200].
There are two basic types of plant in this genus (this species is a crawler):-
'crawlers' are species with horizontal roots that often spread freely, with new plants being formed at intervals along the root. These species are useful for naturalising, but they do not flower very freely in the cool summers of Britain[214].
'clumpers' have vertical roots, they form slowly spreading clumps and produce offsets around the crown. These forms flower much more freely in Britain[214].
A very ornamental plant[1], the sweetly fragrant flowers are 12cm in diameter[222]. The flowers open in the morning, when they are at their most fragrant, and close in the afternoon[245].

Propagation

Seed - sow as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse in pots submerged under 25mm of water. Prick out into individual pots as soon as the first true leaf appears and grow them on in water in a greenhouse for at least two years before planting them out in late spring.
The seed is collected by wrapping the developing seed head in a muslin bag to avoid the seed being lost. Harvest it 10 days after it sinks below the soil surface or as soon as it reappears[200].
Division in May. Each portion must have at least one eye. Submerge in pots in shallow water until established[56].

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers have a delicious scent tinted with rose[245]. They are most fragrant in the morning[245].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

The Edible Pond and Bog Garden

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Nymphaea alba (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos) from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Nymphaea odorata ssp. odorata (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

References for nymphaea alba (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Nymphaeaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[55] Harris. B. C. Eat the Weeds. Pivot Health 1973
Interesting reading.

[56] Muhlberg. H. Complete Guide to Water Plants. E. P. Publishing Ltd. 1982 ISBN 0-7158-0789-7
Deals with a wide range of plants for temperate areas (and indoor aquaria) with quite a lot of information on cultivation techniques.

[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[214] Matthews. V. The New Plantsman. Volume 1, 1994. Royal Horticultural Society 1994 ISBN 1352-4186
A quarterly magazine, it has articles on Himalayacalamus hookerianus, hardy Euphorbias and an excellent article on Hippophae spp.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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