Nymphs

Taking a sunny and warm walk along the Nottingham Canal once again, before tackling Tesco this morning, we were delighted to see among the more familiar Yellow Water-Lilies, the appearance of their more showy cousins the White Water-Lilies.

The beautiful flowers of the White Water-Lily (Nymphaea alba)are much larger than the yellow ones, up to 6" across when fully open.

The petals can be tinged with pink and the centre of each flower is a mass of bright yellow stamens. They open only in full sunshine, so it was our good fortune to have such lovely weather this morning.

Over towards the other side of the canal there were other lilies beginning to show flower. These were a deep, pinkish-red colour. These are in fact also a form of Nympaea alba, originating from Sweden, discovered in the 19th century.

The White Water-Lily is the national flower of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and State flower for Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also the birth flower for July.