Scientific name: Alisma plantago-aquatica L.
Common name: Water-plantains
Description
Habit: Stem up to 75cm high.
Leaves: Basal, usually aerial, erect, petiolate; oval, ovate or elliptic-ovate to lanceolate; base subcordate or truncate; apex rounded to acuminate; up to 30 x 12cm, but usually smaller, 2-4 times as long as wide.
Flowers: In a terminal panicle of several whorls, open mainly in the afternoon; hermaphrodite; flowers 7-12mm across; petals 3.5-6.5mm, white or purplish-white; styles equalling or longer than the ovaries, filiform, more or less erect; stamens 6, anthers elliptical.
Fruits: Fruitlets 2-3mm; opaque.
Habitat: Ditches, pools, canals and lake-margins.
Distribution: Very frequent.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No