YELLOW PONDLILY AND WATERLILY

WHITE WATERLILY (UWSP photo)

Wednesday, 8:15 AM.  63 degrees F at the ferry dock, 58 on the back porch.  Wind variable and very light. The sky has scattered clouds.  The humidity continues to rise slowly, now at 81%.  The barometer stands at 29.94" and is steady for now.  It is a very fine morning.

   The robins have discovered the ripening Juneberries and crabapples, and are flitting from one to the other, diving into the foliage and creating such a ruckus that the small trees shake with their activities.  Life is good for the robin this morning.

  Yellow pondlily, AKA spatterdock, Nuphar advena,   synonym lutea, in the Waterlily Family (Nymphaceae) is blooming in backwaters of the Sioux River and other quiet waters.  
   Our native water lilies, Nymphaea odorata, have mostly white petals, and the flowers float flat on the water ( N. alba is an occasional escapee from cultivation and may have roseate petals).  As the species name indicates, the native waterlilies are very fragrant. They have been blooming for some time.  The yellow Nuphar flowers are cup shaped and rise above the water on a long stem; the leaves also float.  Both species are in the water lily family, the Nymphaceae.  There is a third species of waterlily-like aquatic plant native to southern wisconsin, Nelumbo lutea, the water chinquapin or wonkapin.  It'spale yellow flowers are also held above the water on a tall stem, and are otherwise very similar in appearance to those of Nuphar advena.  It appears in southern Wisconsin along the southern reaches of the Wisconsin River.  N. nucifera, the oriental sacred lotus, is an occasional escapee in the same regions. It has pink flowers.  I do not recall ever seeing it in the wild.  The leaves of the last two species are often held up out of the water by long stems, rather than float, like water-lily leaves.