Common Name: White Pond Lily

General Information

White pond lily is a herbaceous plant growing from a perennial tuberous rootstock. The rootstock grows at the bottom of ponds, lakes etc, sending up a rosette of leaves that float on the surface of the water.
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Australia - New South Wales, Queensland and Northern Territory, north to New Guinea.

Habitat

In permanent water with a deep and muddy substrate[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	0.00 m
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the tropics and subtropics.
Requires a sunny position[].

Edible Uses

Tubers[].

The porous stalks of the leaves, flowers and fruits are peeled and eaten raw or roasted[, ]. The skin peels easily, leaving a crisp, pale-green stick that can be chewed. It has little flavour, the pleasure in eating it coming more from the texture than the taste[].

Seeds - raw or cooked[]. It is better to remove the small seeds from the bitter-tasting seedcase before cooking them[]. The raw seeds have little flavour, but if lightly fried for 5 minutes then the flavour of the crisp, gritty mass is excellent[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - needs to be kept moist prior to sowing. Sow seed, together with the surrounding pulp, in pots covered by about 25mm of water at 23 - 27c[]. Prick out into individual pots when the first floating leaves appear and gradually raise the water level as they grow[].
Division, or the removal of a portion of the rhizome with a sprouting eye[]. Pot up into a small immersed pot and pot on as the plant grows until the roots fill a 10cm pot, by which time it is large enough to plant out[].

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