Nuphar variegata Engelm. ex Durand

Rhizomes 2.5-7 cm diam. Leaves mostly floating, occasionally submersed; petiole adaxially flattened, with median ridge, winged along margins. Leaf blade abaxially and adaxially green, sometimes abaxially purple-tinged, broadly ovate to oblong, 7-35 5-25 cm, 1.2-1.6 times as long as wide, sinus 1/3-1/2 length of midrib, lobes approximate to overlapping; surfaces glabrous. Flowers 2.5-5 cm diam.; sepals mostly 6, abaxially green to yellow, adaxially usually with red or maroon toward base; petals oblong, thick; anthers 3-9 mm, longer than filaments. Fruit mostly purple-tinged, ovoid, 2-4.3 2-3.5 cm, strongly ribbed, slightly constricted below stigmatic disk; stigmatic disk green, rarely reddened, 8-20 mm diam., entire to deeply crenate; stigmatic rays 7-28, linear to narrowly lanceolate, terminating 0-1(-1.5) mm from margin of disk. Seeds 2.5-5 mm. 2 n = 34.

It is a temperate plant. It grows in standing water.

The leaf stalk is sucked for its moisture. The rootstock is thinly sliced and dried and ground into a powder as a porridge or to thicken soups. The rootstock is also boiled with meat. The seeds are parched and ground into a powder and used as a porridge.