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White Egyptian Lotus

Nymphaea lotus

Found in canals, ponds. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 6%

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 5 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Georgia pond and emergent wetland
Regional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

12CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Nymphaea

  • Bellura gortynoidesWhite-Tailed Diver
  • Bellura vulnificaWhite Waterlily Diver, Black-Tailed Diver
  • Elophila gyralisWaterlily Borer Moth
  • Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
  • Langessa nomophilalisBlack Langessa
  • Parapoynx allionealisWatermilfoil Leafcutter, Bladderwort Casemaker
  • Parapoynx maculalisPolymorphic Pondweed Moth
  • Parapoynx obscuralisObscure Pondweed Moth
  • Parapoynx seminealisFloating-Heart Waterlilly Moth, Waterlily Casebearer
  • Spodoptera latifasciaOrange-Striped Armyworm, Velvet Armyworm Moth
Show all 12
  • Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
  • Argyractis drumalis
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
5BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Nymphaea

  • Aix sponsaWood Duck
  • Antigone canadensisSandhill Crane
  • Aythya affinisLesser Scaup
  • Aythya collarisRing-necked Duck
  • Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Nymphaeaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Florida rankSNA
Global rankNot available
FL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources