Nuphar variegata

Spatterdock

BULLHEAD POND-LILY, YELLOW WATER-LILY

NATIVE TO MAINE

Habitat: Spatterdock is part of the floating-leaved plant community, growing in depths up to 2 meters. It is especially abundant in still or slow moving waters with soft sediments. Spatterdock can grow in sun or shade, but flowers more readily in good light.

Description: Spatterdock is a floating-leaved perennial. The leaves are elongate and heart-shaped, 7 to 40 cm long, with rounded lobes. The lobes are parallel or overlapping and the leaf notch is usually less than half the length of the midrib. The leaf and flower stalks emerge from a thick spongy rhizome marked with a spiraling pattern of leaf scars. The leaf stalks are flattened on one side, with wings running down the sides. The flowers of spatterdock are yellow and ball-shaped with 5 or 6 petals around a yellowish-green stigmatic disk. The disk eventually develops into a seedpod.

Origin and Range: Spatterdock is native to much of the central and eastern U.S. It is one of the most common aquatic plants in New England and is widely distributed in Maine.

Annual Cycle: Spatterdock over-winters as rhizomes and seeds. New leaves begin to emerge from the rhizomes early in the summer. Later, flowers are borne above the floating leaves, often blooming all summer long.

Value to the Aquatic Community: Spatterdock is an important food source for a wide variety of wildlife including fish, waterfowl, deer, muskrat, beaver, even porcupine! The leaves offer shade and habitat for fish and invertebrates.

Look Alikes: May be confused with European frogbit, yellow floating heart, small yellow pond lily, little floating heart, watershield, and fragrant water lily.