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1,484 bytes added ,  18:32, 22 February 2010
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{{SPlantbox
 
{{SPlantbox
|genus=Nymphaea  
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|familia=Nymphaeaceae
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|genus=Nymphaea
 
|species=mexicana
 
|species=mexicana
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|taxo_author=Zucc.
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|common_name=yellow waterlily, Mexican waterlily, banana waterlily
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|habit=aquatic
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|lifespan=perennial
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|exposure=sun
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|water=wet
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|features=flowers, foliage
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|flowers=yellow
 
|Temp Metric=°F
 
|Temp Metric=°F
 
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
 
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|image=Upload.png
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|image=Nymphaeamexicana.jpg
 
|image_width=240
 
|image_width=240
 
}}
 
}}
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The aquatic plant '''''Nymphaea mexicana''''' is known by the common names '''yellow waterlily''', '''Mexican waterlily''' and '''banana waterlily'''. It is perhaps best known as a [[noxious weeds|noxious weed]] in wetlands of the southern half of the United States, particularly in [[California]]. It is native to the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]] but it can easily invade similar aquatic ecosystems when it is introduced. The plant is attractive and has been introduced to new habitats for ornamental purposes.
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The plant has thick [[rhizome]]s and long, spongy creeping [[stolon]]s which bear bunches of small yellow roots that resemble miniature [[banana]]s. The plant can grow from seedlings or send out new shoots from its stolons. The large, flat leaves are green with purple or brown patterning, and float on the surface of the water. The floating lotus flowers have yellow petals and pointed, starlike, greenish-yellow [[sepal]]s. The flowers close at night. The plant flowers during the summer, and also during spring and fall in warmer areas. Seeds are contained in green berries which grow underwater. It grows in marshes and readily invades canals and other shallow waterways, sometimes becoming a nuisance.
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{{Inc|
 
{{Inc|
Nymphaea mexicana, Zucc. (C. mexicana, Coulter. N. flava, Leitner). Floating Lvs. ovate, margin obscurely and finely sinuate, dark green above, beautifully blotched with brown; under surface dark crimson-brown, with small blackish dots; when crowded the Lvs. rise 3-5 in. above the water, are orbicular, cup-shaped by overlapping of the straight sinus-margins, entire, 3-5 in. across, dark green and shining above, under surface bright green, with fine purplish brown mottlings: fls. 4 in. across, raised 4-5 in. above the water, bright canary- yellow, open from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M.; petals 23, grading in size and shape insensibly into the stamens, which are about 50, light golden yellow: rhizome erect, tuber-like, discoid, plane beneath, 3-5 in. diam.; runners terete, lain, thick, white, rooting at the tip and sending up Lvs.; the young plant flowers in a few weeks and again sends out runners. Fla., Mex. B.M. 6917. Gn. 23:334; 27, p. 439; 52:445.—Hardy as far north as New York "in 2 ft. of water, covered with boards and a few leaves." Mexican stock is stronger and blooms more freely than that from Fla. Rose considers them distinct species.
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Nymphaea mexicana, Zucc. (C. mexicana, Coulter. N. flava, Leitner). Floating Lvs. ovate, margin obscurely and finely sinuate, dark green above, beautifully blotched with brown; under surface dark crimson-brown, with small blackish dots; when crowded the Lvs. rise 3-5 in. above the water, are orbicular, cup-shaped by overlapping of the straight sinus-margins, entire, 3-5 in. across, dark green and shining above, under surface bright green, with fine purplish brown mottlings: fls. 4 in. across, raised 4-5 in. above the water, bright canary- yellow, open from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M.; petals 23, grading in size and shape insensibly into the stamens, which are about 50, light golden yellow: rhizome erect, tuber-like, discoid, plane beneath, 3-5 in. diam.; runners terete, lain, thick, white, rooting at the tip and sending up Lvs.; the young plant flowers in a few weeks and again sends out runners. Fla., Mex.—Hardy as far north as New York "in 2 ft. of water, covered with boards and a few leaves." Mexican stock is stronger and blooms more freely than that from Fla. Rose considers them distinct species.
 
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===Pests and diseases===
 
===Pests and diseases===
 
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The [[Canvasback]] duck feeds on the banana-like roots of the plant.
    
==Varieties==
 
==Varieties==