Water Lily

Water lilies are a group of aquatic flowering plants found in slow-moving or still fresh water across much of the temperate and tropical world, recognized by their broad, floating, rounded leaves and showy flowers that rise just above the water's surface in shades of white, pink, yellow or blue depending on the species. Rooted in mud at the bottom of ponds and lakes, water lilies send long flexible stems up to the surface, where their leaves and flowers spread out to capture sunlight, and many species open their flowers only during the day, closing again at night or in cloudy weather. The plants play an important ecological role, providing shade that helps regulate water temperature and algae growth, along with shelter and food for fish, amphibians and insects such as dragonflies that lay their eggs on the underside of the floating leaves. Water lilies have also long been prized as ornamental plants for garden ponds and were a favorite subject of the painter Claude Monet, whose extensive series of water lily paintings remains among the most celebrated works in Impressionist art.