Nymphaea alba

European white waterlily
Scientific classification
Kinrick:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
Order:	Nymphaeales
Faimily:	Nymphaeaceae
Genus:	Nymphaea
Species:	N. alba
Binomial name
Nymphaea alba L.

Nymphaea alba, kent as the Loch-lily an aw, is an aquatic flouerin plant o the faimily Nymphaeaceae.

It graws in watter frae 30-150 centimeter deep an liks lairge stanks an lochs. The leafs can be up tae thirty centimetre in diametre an thay tak up a spread o 150 centimetre per plant. The flouers is white an thay hae mony smaa stamens inside.

The reid variety that is in cultivation came frae loch Fagertärn (Fair tarn) in the wid o Tiveden, Swaden, whaur thay wur discovered in the early 19t century. The discovery led tae a lairge scale exploitation whilk near made it extinct in the wild afore it wis protectit.

It is foond aw ower Europe an in pairts o North Africae an the Middle East in freshwatter.

Nymphaea candida J. Presl is whiles considered a subspecies o N. alba (N. alba L. subsp. candida (J. Presl) Korsh.).

It conteens the active alkaloids nupharine an nymphaeine, an is a sedative an an aphrodisiac/anaphrodisiac dependin on soorces. Tho ruits an stalks is uised in tradeetional yerbal medicine alang wi the flouer, the petals an ither flouer pairts is the maist potent. Alcohol can be uised tae extract the active alkaloids, an it boosts the sedative effects an aw. The ruit o the plant wis uised bi monks an nuns for hunners o years as an anaphrodisiac, bein prant an mixed wi wine. In the earliest printit medical textbeuks, authors woud maintain this aurie o uise, though wairnin against consumin lairge an frequent doses.

A Romanian White Watterlily (Nymphaea alba)

The reid version, photographed in Swaden