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Nymphaeaceae

Pygmy waterlily

Nymphaea tetragona Georgi

Family
Nymphaeaceae
Genus
Nymphaea

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Pygmy waterlily (Nymphaea tetragona)
FlowerPhoto: Brian Finzel, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (12)
Burmese
ကြာဖြူ
Cantonese
睡蓮
Chinese
睡莲, 睡蓮, 子午蓮, 矮睡莲
English
Pygmy waterlily, Pygmy water-lily, Pretty pygmy water-lily, 각시수련
Finnish
Suomenlumme
German
Zwerg-Seerose
Japanese
ヒツジグサ
Korean
수련, 각시수련
Mongolian
Дөрвөлсөн бөлбөө
Polish
Grzybienie czterokątne
Russian
Кувшинка четырёхгранная
Swedish
Finsk näckros

Synonyms

  • Castalia crassifolia Hand.-Mazz.
  • Castalia pygmaea Salisb.
  • Castalia rudgeana Tratt.
  • Castalia tetragona (Georgi) G.Lawson
  • Leuconymphaea tetragona (Georgi) Kuntze
  • Nymphaea alba subsp. tetragona (Georgi) Korsh.
  • Nymphaea crassifolia (Hand.-Mazz.) Nakai
  • Nymphaea esquirolii H.Lév. & Vaniot
  • Nymphaea fennica Mela
  • Nymphaea japono-koreana Nakai
  • Nymphaea pygmaea (Salisb.) W.T.Aiton
  • Nymphaea pygmaea f. acutiloba Regel
  • Nymphaea pygmaea f. distans Regel
  • Nymphaea pygmaea f. grandiflora Regel
  • Nymphaea pygmaea var. acutiloba (Regel) Regel
  • Nymphaea pygmaea var. grandiflora (Regel) Regel
  • Nymphaea pygmaea var. minima Nakai
  • Nymphaea tetragona var. angusta Casp. ex Nakai
  • Nymphaea tetragona var. crassifolia (Hand.-Mazz.) Y.C.Chu
  • Nymphaea tetragona var. minima (Nakai) W.Lee
  • Nymphaea tetragona var. wenzelii (Maack) Vorosch.
  • Nymphaea wenzelii Maack ex Regel

Flowers

In flower
July to August (from 26 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Lifespan
Perennial
In the US and Canada
Alaska: native, Canada: native, Lower 48 states: native

Photos

More in Nymphaea

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.