Today I thought I might write about something we see at the loch in the summer. Its NUPHAR. The beautiful water plant that our very own Nuphar calls herself after. I admit I know very little about it so hopefully this will help me and maybe others to understand more about it. I’m hoping Nuphar tells us what type we have at the loch 
From Wiki ….
Nuphar is genus of aquatic plants in the family Nymphaeaceae, with a temperate Northern Hemisphere distribution. The common name, shared with some other genera in the same family, is water lily or waterlily.
There are from 1 to 25 species in the genus. Some botanists[1] treat the genus as just a single variable species (for which the European name N. lutea has priority), but 10-12 species are typically accepted by most authorities. Recent molecular work has shown that there is some difference between the European and American species.[2]
The genus is closely related to Nymphaea. Nuphar differs in having its petals being much smaller than its 4-6 bright yellow-coloured sepals, whereas in Nymphaea, the petals are much larger than the sepals. The fruit maturation also differs, with Nuphar fruit being held above water level to maturity, whereas Nymphaea fruit sink below the water level immediately after the flower closes. Both genera share leaves with a radial notch from the circumference to the petiole (leaf stem) in the center.
The etymology of the word is: medieval Latin nuphar, from medieval Latin nenuphar, thence from Arabic n?n?far, thence from Persian n?l?far, thence from Sanskrit n?l?tpala = blue lotus flower.[3]
Nuphar lutea, the spatterdock, yellow water-lily, cow lily, or yellow pond-lily, is an aquatic plant of the family Nymphaeaceae, native to Eurasia and North America.[1] It grows in eutrophic freshwater beds, with its roots fixed into the ground and its leaves floating on the water’s surface.
Growth
The plant’s inflorescence is a solitary, terminal hermaphrodite flower, pollinated by insects, which blooms from June to September in the Northern Hemisphere. The flower is followed by achenes which are distributed by the water current. It can grow in water up to 40 cm (16 in) deep.[citation needed]
Medicinal and food uses
Spatterdock was long used in traditional medicine, with the root applied to the skin and/or both the root and seeds eaten for a variety of conditions. The seeds are edible, and can be ground into flour. The root is edible too, but can prove to be incredibly bitter in some plants.[2]
