Family: water lilies (Nymphaeaceae)
Blooming period: June–September
Size: 50–250 cm
Habitat: standing and slow-flowing waters
The large heart-shaped leaves of the white water lily (Nymphaea alba) are floating. A beautiful flower with numerous snow-white petals, adorned by a multitude of yellow stamens, is up to 9 cm wide. In the soft bottom of water bodies it hides its thick rhizome, from which toward the water surface leaves and flowering stalks rise. It is a poisonous aquatic plant of lowland areas, which thrives here and there across Slovenia.
Lake Cerknica is one of its few natural habitats in the country. Due to the rarity and sensitivity of suitable habitats, the white water lily is listed as a vulnerable species on the Slovenian Red List of Threatened Seeds and Ferns.
