Nymphaea mexicana

Yellow or banana waterlily, Yellow Or Banana Waterlily

Family: Nymphaeaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Yellow or banana waterlily is a naturalized perennial found in the San Joaquin Valley in lakes, ponds, and slow streams at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces large yellow flowers 6 to 11 centimeters wide with 12 to 30 petals floating on or emerging from water surfaces. Growing with erect, unbranched rhizomes, it develops large leaf blades 7 to 14 centimeters wide, ranging from ovate to nearly round. Its leaves spread across water surfaces in broad, flat planes, creating distinctive circular green platforms. The fruit is ovoid, measuring 2 to 2.5 centimeters long, with small seeds approximately 4 to 5 millimeters in size.

Habitat: Lakes, ponds, slow streams

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: SnJV

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.