Blue waterlily

In Namibia the peeled tubers of Blue Waterlilies (Nymphaea nouchali)are boiled and roasted and eaten as a staple food. They inhabit pools, dams, lakes and rivers mainly in the Kavango River, Chobe River, Linyati Marches and Okavango Delta.

Their star-shaped blue or pinkish flowers emit a pleasant aroma, attracting beetles, bees and other insects. The exposed tubers are also eaten by hippos, monkeys and baboons as well as humans. African and Lesser Jacanas walk on the large, glossy-green rounded leaves on the hunt for insects and the Pygmy Goose and Wattled Crane eat the fruits. Roots are powdered to use in the treatment from coughs, cold and asthma. The Blue Waterlily loves plenty of sunshine and water, is frost resistant and flowers from September to April.