Waterblommetjie or Pond Weed (Aponogeton distachyos) is a fast growing aquatic plant growing from a tuberous rhizome with glossy oblong leaves that float on the waters surface.
It is widely cultivated for its edible buds used in the recipe waterblommetjiebredie.
Sweetly scented, edible flowers stand up out of the water above the leaves, it is a forked inflorescence bearing tiny, white, one-petalled flowers with brown anthers. It is only when the flowers make seed heads that they are ready for the pot.
These aquatic plants are native to the Western Cape province but have also been introduced elsewhere in warm, temperate winter rainfall areas.