Water Soldier

Did you know

• Water soldier spends most of the year submerged at the bottom of ponds and ditches, rising to the surface only in summer to flower, then sinking again after setting seed — driven by seasonal changes in its buoyancy chemistry.
• The plant absorbs calcium carbonate from hard water and deposits it in its leaf cells, making the rosette progressively heavier during the growing season; once seed is set, the calcium is reabsorbed and the plant sinks.
• Its name comes from the stiff, sword-like leaves edged with sharp teeth that can scratch human skin — early naturalists thought the armed rosette resembled a soldier's plumed helmet rising from the water.
• Water soldier is dioecious in some populations (separate male and female plants) but can also reproduce vegetatively by producing offsets on long stolons — a single plant can create a large colony in nutrient-rich water.
• The plant has declined sharply in Britain due to drainage of traditional fenland ditches and reduction in water hardness; it survives in just a few locations in the Norfolk Broads and East Anglia.

Color meanings

Uses

• aquatic ornamental
• pond plant
• wildlife habitat