Yesterday I visited Burghley House, near Stamford in Lincolnshire, and noticed an interesting plant growing in the pond outside the tearoom.

It was Water Hawthorn, Aponogeton distachyos, which I remember reading about years ago when choosing plants for my first pond. But I don’t remember actually seeing the plant before.

Water Hawthorn, Aponogeton distachyos

The first thing I noticed was the mass of pretty white flowers held just above the pond surface. Each “flower” is actually a forked inflorescence bearing tiny, white, one-petalled flowers with dark purple-brown anthers. The slightly mottled oval leaves float on the surface of the water. The plant makes a stunning sight, especially this early in the year. (My own pond has Marsh Marigolds in flower, but nothing else yet.)

Water Hawthorn is a perennial which grows wild in South Africa, where it is also known as Waterblommetjie (water flower in Afrikaans), Waterunintjie (water onion), Vleikos,  Cape Hawthorn, Cape Asparagus and Cape Pond Weed. The flowers are attractive to bees and are edible and considered to be a great delicacy. The PlantZAfrica.com website says that the flowers and buds can be used to make a delicious stew, Waterblommetjie Bredie (small water flower stew), which has been described as “much like stewed green beans with a hint of pumpkin“. The Plants For A Future website says that the flowers can be used as a flavouring and the young shoots and flowers can be used as a  asparagus substitute. Now I know about this, I will try some if I get a chance. I will also sniff the flowers if I can, as the scent is supposed to be like Hawthorn.

Aponogeton distachyos can be grown in gardens in milder areas of Britain, where it will flower in spring (March to May) and sometimes in the autumn too (October to November). It needs to be grown in water 30 to 90cm deep, in a rich planting medium. The deep water will protect the tubers from frost. It can also be grown in wet soil, but will grow less vigorously (and will presumably be more susceptible to frosts). In South Africa the plant grows in ponds that dry up in summer, where it becomes dormant in summer; in Britain it will just stop flowering for a while and can be cut back after flowering.

In South Africa, Aponogeton distachyos has been brought into cultivation as a food crop in South Africa in the last thirty or so years. Unfortunately it has declined in the wild, due to habitat loss and herbicide run-off from agricultural land. More information on Aponogeton distachyos and its cultivation in South Africa can be found in: Robert W. Pemberton, “Waterblommetjie (Aponogeton distachyos, Aponogetonaceae), a recently domesticated aquatic Food Crop in Cape South Africa with unusual origins”, Economic Botany April–June 2000, Volume 54, Issue 2, pp 144-149.

I leave you with another photograph of this lovely plant: