This was one of the plants I had hoped to find on a first trip to the superb Southport dune system for about fifteen years. It was the very first water plant identified in my early botanising days and I had found it at the edge of a pool further south in the dunes at Freshfields. This time all the wet areas appeared very dry and there just a few muddy pools to be seen in the dunes to the east of the coast road. When we crossed to the dunes on the east, just in front of the beach, the area seemed much wetter and we soon found a small canal or river in which grew as good a collection of water plants you could find anywhere. This one was growing right in the middle of the water so I had to take the photo with a telephoto instead of the usual macro setting.

It is found dotted all over England and Wales but gets scarcer in the north of Scotland. It is common in Ireland.

Sefton Coast (River Nile near Green Beach), 23rd July 2005

Added on 24th July 24th, updated on 21st October 2008, updated 3rd March 2010