A floating plant with rosettes, up to 30 cm across, of thick, hairy, bluish-green leaves.

Ponds, canals and slow-flowing rivers.

Spring and summer, dying off in cold weather.

It is a tropical floating plant, and so will die off completely and for good in winter, but it will multiply rapidly during the summer if the water is sufficiently rich in nutrients.

Water lettuce is casual in Britain, with scattered records, mainly in southern England.

Rare or under recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland. It was not recorded in the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire.