If you’ve spent time on slow or no flowing water in Wisconsin, you may have seen huge, round, green floating leaves as big as dinner plates, sometimes rising right out of the water! These are the leaves of the American lotus (Nelumbo lutea), an aquatic plant native to Wisconsin and the only native lotus in the United States. Patches of these beautiful plants can be found in all four of the Winnebago Lakes!
The leaves can grow up to 2 feet in diameter, and are completely round with no notches in the leaf. The plant can grow to 6 feet tall. The flowers of the American Lotus are white to yellow, and can be 10 inches across. The flowers grow up to 3 feet above the water and bloom July through September in Wisconsin waters. The lotus grows best in quiet waters that have little or no flow, such as in protected bays of lakes or in the backwaters of large rivers, where the current is slow. They can be seen in ponds, too.
The submerged parts of these aquatic plants provide habitat for many invertebrates, which are then food for fish and other wildlife. Ducks will eat the large, acorn-like seeds of the American lotus. The large floating leaves are also great habitat for flying invertebrates; keep an eye out for dragonflies using them as landing pads!
Article written by Katie Reed, Winnebago Waterways Coordinator: katherine@fwwa.org
Sources:
- Flora of Wisconsin
- Aquatic Plants of the Upper Midwest, 4th edition (written by Paul Skawinski)
Winnebago Waterways is a Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance recovery initiative. Contact us at wwinfo@fwwa.org
