Fragrant Water-lily
Nymphaea odorata
Native status: sources disagree, under review. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 65%
- Height
- 2 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
Not yet recorded · Spread · Bloom
County records are not available.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 82 animals.
Widespread birds also seen here (45)
Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.
- Alder Flycatcher
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel
- American Redstart
- American Robin
- Belted Kingfisher
- Black-billed Cuckoo
- Blue Grosbeak
- Blue Jay
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chimney Swift
- Chipping Sparrow
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Raven
- Common Yellowthroat
- Cooper's Hawk
- Eastern Kingbird
- Eastern Towhee
- European Starling
- Gray Catbird
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Great Horned Owl
- Least Flycatcher
- Mourning Dove
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Mockingbird
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Osprey
- Purple Finch
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Tufted Titmouse
- Turkey Vulture
- Veery
- White-throated Sparrow
- Wild Turkey
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Who uses this plant?
7CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Nymphaea
- Bellura gortynoidesWhite-Tailed Diver
- Bellura vulnificaWhite Waterlily Diver, Black-Tailed Diver
- Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
- Parapoynx allionealisWatermilfoil Leafcutter, Bladderwort Casemaker
- Parapoynx maculalisPolymorphic Pondweed Moth
- Parapoynx obscuralisObscure Pondweed Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
3BirdsRecorded eating Nymphaea in West Virginia
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes West Virginia, most records first.
- Ring-necked DuckSeeds. 2 diet records
- Wood DuckSeeds. 2 diet records
- Lesser ScaupSeeds. 1 diet record
Direct food only. 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
Birds that eat Nymphaea 3
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Wood DuckAix sponsa
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
Plant details
- Family
- Nymphaeaceae
- Flower color
- White
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “2 feet” · Tennessee Smart Yards · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Full sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “wet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
Also known as
Fragrant Water lily; White Water Lily
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Growing cautions
- Spreads aggressively. Spreads rapidly by rhizomes. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications