Stratiotes is a genus of submerged aquatic plant commonly known as water soldiers. A characteristic of the genus is the habit of the plants rising to the surface at flowering time. I bought a couple a year or two ago when I was in Exeter. They seemed to like each other and lots of new ones ensued. This year I arrived back from New Zealand and they seemed to have disappeared. But one seems to have survived and become larger and more splendid than its forebears. I'm excited that next year it may even bear a flower.
That is a beautiful one. I don't think mine have ever flowered, but the pond is so crowded with plants I might have missed it.
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