PlantHere

Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

American White Waterlily

Nymphaea odorata
native · Central Texas

American White Waterlily is a perennial wildflower native to Central Texas that grows 1 ft tall and 1 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and high water, and handles clay soil. Blooms white in Mar–Oct. Good for birds.

Wet ground only. A wetland plant: it needs standing water or saturated soil — a pond edge, creek bank or rain garden, not a dry upland bed.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks American White Waterlily against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

The facts

5 sources
Type
Perennial wildflower
Sun
Full sun to part shade (3–6 hrs of direct sun)
Water
High
Height
1 ft
Spread
1 ft
Bloom
Mar–Oct · white
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes clay · recorded on clay, loam, moist, mud, poor drainage, sand
Wildlife
Supports birds

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Northern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesSan Antonio Prairie

35 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.