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Narrowleaf Pond-lily

Nuphar sagittifolia

Found in blackwater streams, rivers, and lakes, acid-water ponds, in swift, sluggish, or stagnant water, extending downriver into freshwater tidal areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

54
Strong

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 82%

Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Wet to standing water
Will it fit your yard?

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
April to October

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves

Height: NC species account not read yet.

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

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

Recorded in 3 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.

1 of 2

Streams, rivers and their banks

Watauga Falls
Named place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond
Regional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 154 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

9CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Nuphar

  • Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
  • Bellura gortynoidesWhite-Tailed Diver
  • Bellura obliquaCattail Border Moth, Cattail Diver
  • Elophila gyralisWaterlily Borer Moth
  • Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
  • Homophoberia cristataWaterlily Owlet, Water-Lily Owlet, Yellow Water-Lily Owlet
  • Ostrinia penitalisAmerican Lotus Borer, Lily Moth
  • Parapoynx maculalisPolymorphic Pondweed Moth
  • Parapoynx obscuralisObscure Pondweed Moth
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
10BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Nuphar

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

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

  • 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

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Nymphaeaceae
Flower color
Yellow or green
Growing sources and scope
  • Bloom · “April to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Flower color · “Yellow or green” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  • Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  • Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Soil · “Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as

Narrowleaf Pond lily; Nuphar lutea ssp. sagittifolia; Nuphar luteum spp. sagittifolium

Conservation status

Virginia rankS1
Global rankG5T2 [G2]
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources