Nymphaea leibergii (Small White Waterlily) - photos and description
Leaf
topside in above photo
Bottom of
leaf in above photo
General: Aquatic plant with leaves and flower stalks arising from underground stems.
Flowers: Flowers white with yellow centres, having four green sepals and 9 to 15 petals. Petals in two rows, petal measured at 2 cm long. Flower measured 4 cm diameter - tip of sepal to tip of opposite sepal.
Leaves: Leaves basal, float on the water surface, broadly elliptical, with a V-shaped opening (sinus) between two pointed lobes. We measured a sinus at 58 mm long, and distance between the 2 lobes at 22 mm, midrib measured at 50 mm. Leaves have a green topside, and brownish-purple underside.
Height: Not applicable.
Habitat: Ponds and lakes in the boreal forest in east central Saskatchewan.
Abundance: Very rare, ranked as S2 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos July 31st, in a shallow pond, about 400 km northeast of our home in Regina, SK.