-Plants (Kingdom Plantae)

-Vascular Plants (Phylum Tracheophyta)

-Flowering Plants (Subphylum Angiospermae)

-Dicots (Class Magnoliopsida)

-Waterlilies, Fanworts, and Allies (Order Nymphaeales)

-Waterlily Family (Family Nymphaeaceae)

-Waterlilies (Genus Nymphaea)

-Dotleaf Waterlily (Nymphaea ampla)

The Dotleaf Waterlily (Nymphaea ampla) is an aquatic flowering plant native to the tropical and subtropical Americas, including Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and parts of South America. It grows rooted in the mud of ponds, lakes, slow rivers, and wetlands, with large, round, floating leaves that are bright green and often marked with distinct purple or dark reddish spots, the feature that gives the plant its common name. The leaves have wavy margins and radiate from long stalks that rise from submerged rhizomes. Its flowers are large, showy, and star-like, typically white to pale blue, with numerous petals surrounding a bright yellow center, and they open during the day, attracting pollinators such as bees and beetles. Dotleaf Waterlily plays an important ecological role by providing shade, shelter, and breeding habitat for fish, amphibians, and aquatic invertebrates, while also helping stabilize sediments and improve water quality.