This one plant that is huge and creates habitat and food for animals.

There are a few flowers that actually wow people, but also feed aquatic animals, and one of which is the water lilies. 

I remember going to a temple some long ago and seeing the pond full of koi fish and water lilies. This was long ago, but I asked my mom what it is. She told me it was water lilies and they were used to "decorate" the pond. The colours of the lilies were pink, fuchsia and white, and the flower opens to this specular view. I always wondered how the Koi Fish can be in the same space as those lilies. 

Taken from 'Gardening Know How' website

Explained by David Domoney, he said that lilies provide shade to fish who are swimming in the pond. Especially now, since the climate has gone through heat waves with excessive sunshine, its always great to have fish in the shade to prevent overheating. It can also help 'limit algae growth' which produces toxins in turn are not good for the fish. 

From the Britannica website, they have more than 60 species native to tropical parts of the world; think Thailand, Indonesia, and countries with warmer climates. The flowers have this waxy-coated leaves - almost like green leaves just floating in the pond, and roots are from the bottom of the sandy base, the branch exceeds to the top, creating this wonderful leaf sitting on there.

The flowers then start to bloom, petals shoot up from the top and the inside is nectar for pollinators with varieties of colours including pink, fuchsia, purple. And the really cool thing about this is that they bloom during the day, and close up at night. Some varieties open at night as well. 

Some people might get them confused between Lotus and Water Lilies, they are two separate plants. From the video from 'Backyard Gardening', Lotus leaves are called (Nelumbu) and the water lilies (that we are focusing on) is called, 'Nymphea'. Lotus are larger in diameter and length, and their leaves are smaller in size. I also noticed in the video that the petals in lotus start from their base, and curl all the way outwards. 

Another thing to check it out is the lotus leaves are always rounded with no cut to the middle, while water lilies have this cut that goes to the middle. As mentioned, water lilies have this waxy-shiny coat while lotus leaves are thin with no coat. 

There are many other differences between noticing a water lily vs. a Lotus plant. If you are interested in learning more about those two and the comparisons, I suggest you check out her video (and subscribe to their channel).

One artist who used to paint water lilies was Monet himself. Through his time, he used to paint those for living until his death. According to the Musee de l'Orangerie (a museum based in Paris, France), he had a water garden he created in the state of Giverny, France. 

Sidenote: Giverny is an 1 hour drive north of Paris. 

His paintings are currently displayed at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, France. 

Water lilies are much more than just flowers in a lake. They are wonderful to look at, great for aquatic animals to find shade, for those to find inspiration like Monet.

References:

https://www.musee-orangerie.fr/en/node/197502

https://www.musee-orangerie.fr/en/node/33

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Y6E5AF0C4

https://www.britannica.com/plant/water-lily

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY2NYxgBP0A