Nymphaeaceae
European white waterlily
Nymphaea alba
- Family
- Nymphaeaceae
- Genus
- Nymphaea
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Common names
By language (61)
- Arabic
- نيلوفر أبيض, حشيشة السمك, زهر النيل, عروس النيل
- Armenian
- Ջրաշուշան սպիտակ
- arz
- نيلوفر ابيض
- atj
- Arikitcac
- Azerbaijani
- Ağ suzanbağı
- Basque
- Nenufar zuria
- Belarusian
- Гарлачык белы
- Bosnian
- Bazne angiosperme
- Bulgarian
- Бяла водна лилия, Лилия
- Burmese
- ကြာညို
- Cantonese
- 白睡蓮
- Catalan
- Nenúfar blanc, Nénuphar Blanc
- Chinese
- 白睡莲, 白睡蓮, 欧洲白睡莲
- csb
- Wòdnô lelijô
- Czech
- Leknín bílý
- Danish
- Hvid Nøkkerose, Hvid åkande, Nøkkerose
- dsb
- Běła wutka
- Dutch
- Witte waterlelie
- English
- European white waterlily, White water-lily
- Estonian
- Valge vesiroos
- Filipino
- Puting Kyapo
- Finnish
- Isolumme, Valkolumme, Lumme
- French
- Nénuphar blanc, Nenuphar blanc, Nénufar blanc
- frr
- Puulepaap
- Galician
- Tapadeira
- German
- Weisse Seerose, Weiße Seerose, Nénuphar Blanc
- Hebrew
- נימפאה לבנה
- hsb
- Wulka bónčawa, Běła bónčawa, Hatna husyčka, Hatna knježička, Hatna lilija, Wódna kanka, Wódna knježička, Wódna lilija
- Hungarian
- Fehér tündérrózsa, Fehér tavirózsa
- Italian
- Ninfea comune
- Japanese
- セイヨウスイレン
- Kazakh
- Ақ тұңғиық
- Korean
- 알바수련
- lah
- چٹی اپسرا
- Lithuanian
- Paprastoji vandens lelija, Nénuphar Blanc
- Macedonian
- Бел воден божур
- mnw
- သွာ၊ တၞံ
- Norwegian Bokmål
- Hvit nøkkerose, Hvit vannlilje, Kvit nøkkerose, Kvit vannlilje, Stor nøkkerose
- Norwegian Nynorsk
- Kvit nykkerose, Kvit nøkkerose, Stor nøkkerose
- os
- Урс дурындзæг
- Persian
- نیلوفر آبی سفید
- Polish
- Grzybienie białe, Grzybień biały, Lilia wodna, Nenufar, Nenufary
- Portuguese
- Ninfeia branca
- Romanian
- Nufăr alb
- Russian
- Кувшинка белая, Белая кувшинка, Водяная лилия
- se
- Stuorraloppan
- Serbian
- Бели локвањ, Beli lokvanj
- Serbian (Latin)
- Beli lokvanj, Bijeli lokvanj, Lopoč
- shn
- မူဝ်ၶၢဝ်, မွၵ်ႇမူဝ်ၶၢဝ်
- Slovak
- Lekno biele
- Slovenian
- Beli lokvanj
- Spanish
- Nenúfar blanco europeo, Adarga de rio, Adarga de río, Escudetes de rio, Escudetes de río, Escudillos, Flores de escudete, Flores nenufares
- Swedish
- Vit näckros, Atlantnäckros, Nordnäckros, Nénuphar Blanc, Sydnäckros
- Telugu
- తెల్ల కలువ
- Turkish
- Beyaz nilüfer
- Ukrainian
- Латаття біле, Біла водяна лілія, Біла лілія, Біле латаття, Купава
- Uzbek
- Oq suv nilufari
- vep
- Kajageine
- Vietnamese
- Súng trắng
- Welsh
- Alaw
- Western Frisian
- Wite Wetterleelje
Synonyms
- Castalia alba Greene
- Leuconymphaea alba (L.) Kuntze
Flowers
- In flower
- April to September, November (from 1,113 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- In the US and Canada
- Canada: introduced
Photos
FlowerPhoto: olmagon, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Yaroslav Andrianov, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Chris Ecroyd, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Patrick Hacker, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: DerHexer, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Lukas Zangl, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: zebedeugalinha, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: AnRo0002, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: zebedeugalinha, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: AnRo0002, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: zebedeugalinha, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
More in Nymphaea
- White Egyptian lotusNymphaea lotusNymphaeaceae
- Blue water lilyNymphaea nouchaliNymphaeaceae
- Nymphaea candidaNymphaeaceae
- American white waterlilyNymphaea odorataNymphaeaceae
- Hairy water lilyNymphaea pubescensNymphaeaceae
- Pygmy waterlilyNymphaea tetragonaNymphaeaceae
- Yellow waterlilyNymphaea mexicanaNymphaeaceae
- Pygmy Rwandan waterlilyNymphaea thermarumNymphaeaceae
- Dotleaf waterlilyNymphaea amplaNymphaeaceae
- Giant waterlilyNymphaea giganteaNymphaeaceae
- Blue Egyptian lotusNymphaea micranthaNymphaeaceae
- Amazon waterlilyNymphaea amazonumNymphaeaceae
Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.