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Yellow Water Lily (Nuphar variegatum)

Yellow Water Lily | Stillwater, MN| View Enlarged Image

This yellow aquatic flower stays afloat by trapping air in its pockets under its leaves. It is one of the few purely aquatic yellow flowers of its size in our region, and its unique shape (some compare the mature plant to the base of an oil lamp) make it easy to identify.

Like its cousin the White Water Lily, the Yellow Water Lily has high wildlife value.

• Muskrats, Deer, and Beaver eat their roots and seeds.
• Insects eat their flat, pie-shaped lily pads and use them for breeding platforms,.
• The insects providing food for Swamp Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, and other lakeshore insectovores.
• Fish rely on lily pads for cover.
• Green Heron will use the lily pads as stepping-stones as they hunt for aquatic insect larva and small fish.

Practically every part of the Yellow Water Lily has a part in folk medicine.

Water Lilies are great native plants for cultivated ponds. Cultivate them from seed or seedling; do not attempt to transplant them from the wild.

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