Description

It is an aquatic monocotyledonousperennial plant with tuberousrhizomes 3 centimetres (1.2 in) in diameter. The leaves are oblong, the leaf blade 15–55 cm long and from 5–16 cm broad, with a total leaf length including the petiole of up to 65 centimetres (26 in). The leaves spread horizontally beneath the surface of the water, and are little more than a lattice-like skeletal network of veins with no tissue between. The flowers are produced on an erect spike up to 1 metre (39 in) long, protruding up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) above the water surface. There seem to be several forms of this plant in cultivation, some large, some much smaller.[3][4