How much of beauty, of color, as well as form, on which our
eyes daily rest goes unperceived by us! --
Henry David Thoreau
Most
of Towne Pond is covered with lily pads for more than half the year.
The three types of plants with floating leaves on the pond are shown on this
page: fragrant water lily, water shield, and spatterdock. All three types are
visible in the image on the left. Click on any picture for an enlarged view.
The
fragrant water lily (nymphaea adorata) has large, circular floating
leaves, with a slit to the center. The leaves are attached to long rhizomes
buried in the mud. The flowers close at dusk and only open in the full sun.
Water
shield (brasenia schreben) has oval floating leaves about three inches
long. Stems connect the leaves to rootstocks buried in mud. The purple flowers
are small (about 3/4 of an inch). Apparently,
this
plant is edible.
Like
water lilies, the spatterdock or cow lily (nuphar lutea) have
large floating leaves, but the spatterdock leaves are heart-shaped. Thick stems connect the
leaves to large
rhizomes in the mud. This
plant is also edible.