| DESCRIPTION: It is a perennial, aquatic, herbaceous plant spreading for up to 2.5 m or more the water surface. It has large, spongy and extensively creeping rhizomes and large heart-shaped leaves reaching 35-40 cm in length and 20-25 cm in width, usually with wavy margins. Flowers are yellow, cup-shaped at or above the water surface, 5-7 cm in diameter. USE: The seeds are edible, being ground up and used as thickeners in soups, made into bread or were parched and eaten as popcorn, etc. The rhizome can be boiled or roasted with fowl or other game. Leaves and roots have medicinal properties and the plant is grown as an ornamental. GROWING PERIOD: Perennial. COMMON NAMES: Cow lily, Yellow cow lily, Yellow pondlily. FURTHER INF: It occurs in ponds, ditches, muddy lakes and slow flowing streams usually in shallow water but can also be found at depth to 2 m and can grow in tidal water. It can be found in eastern North America from Canada to Mexico, reaching Cuba and in Japan, and Europe. |
