Nymphaea pubescens, the hairy water lily or pink water-lily, is a species of water lily.
Description
Vegetative characteristics Nymphaea pubescens is an annualS.W.L. Jacobs & C.L. Porter. Nymphaea pubescens, in (ed.), Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Nymphaea%20pubescens [Date Accessed: 27 September 2025] or perennial,Northern Territory Government. (2013). Nymphaea pubescens Willd. FloraNT. Retrieved September 26, 2025, from https://eflora.nt.gov.au/factsheet?id=4001 rhizomatous, aquatic herbFlora of Sri Lanka. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2025, from https://www.floraofsrilanka.com/species/1315 with erect, stoloniferous,Nymphaea lotus var. pubescens in Flora of China @ efloras.org. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2025, from http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200007088 tuberous, up to 8 cm long rhizomes bearing slim stolons. The petiolate, ovate, elliptic, suborbicular,Forest Herbarium & Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. (n.d.). Nymphaea pubescens Willd. Flora of Thailand. Retrieved September 26, 2025, from https://botany.dnp.go.th/eflora/floraspecies.html?tdcode=07293 orbicular, or sagittate leavesNymphaea pubescens Willd. (n.d.). Flora of Pakistan. Retrieved September 26, 2025, from http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=242334156 with a dentate margin are 15–40 cm long, and 12–35 cm wide. The abaxial leaf surface is pubescent. Generative characteristics The flowers are quite large, about 15 cm in diameter when fully open. They tend to close during the daytime and open wide at night. Their color varies from white to pink, mauve or purple depending from the variety or hybrid.
Taxonomy It was published by Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1799. It is placed in Nymphaea subg. Lotos.Conard, H. S. (1905). "The waterlilies: A monograph of the genus Nymphaea." pp. 198-199. Carnegie Institution of Washington. Etymology The specific epithet pubescens means with soft short hairs.Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2025). Flora of Mozambique: Species information: Holarrhena pubescens. https://www.mozambiqueflora.com/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=145020, retrieved 26 September 2025Lamant, T. (2013, March 23). Species Spotlight: Quercus pubescens Willd. International Oak Society. Retrieved September 26, 2025, from https://www.internationaloaksociety.org/content/species-spotlight-quercus-pubescens-willd
Distribution and habitat
This plant is common in shallow lakes and ponds throughout temperate and tropical Asia: Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Yunnan, Taiwan, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.
It is also found in northeastern Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The hairy water lily is found both as a cultivated plant as well as in the wild. It prefers non-acidic waters and it does not tolerate temperatures below 15 °C.
Use Nymphaea pubescens is used as an aquarium plant for large aquaria.Nymphaea pubescens. (n.d.). Tropica Plant Database. Retrieved December 22, 2025, from https://www.aquaticcommunity.com/tr/Nymphaeapubescens.php
Common names Nymphaea pubescens is known kokaa in Hindi and Kumuda in Sanskrit.Sorting Nymphaea names. (n.d.). Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. Retrieved December 22, 2025, from https://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Nymphaea.html#pubescens
References
External links
Studies on Nymphaea species in Bangladesh Sorting Nymphaea names Nymphaea pubescens - Pictures Flora of China 6: 116–118. 2001 - Nymphaea 睡莲属