Nile Cabbage; Sappi collection

Nile Cabbage and Glorious Mud
Signed Limited Edition of 500
Image Size 18" x 13"
One of the SAPPI Collection entitled "David Shepherd in South Africa"

Pistia is a genus of aquatic plant in the arum family, Araceae. It is the sole genus in the tribe Pistieae which reflects its systematic isolation within the family.
The single species it comprises, Pistia stratiotes, is often called water cabbage, water lettuce, Nile cabbage, or shellflower.
Its native distribution is uncertain, but probably pantropical; it was first discovered from the Nile near Lake Victoria in Africa.
It is now present, either naturally or through human introduction,
in nearly all tropical and subtropical fresh waterways and considered an invasive species as well as a mosquito breeding habitat.
The genus name is derived from the Greek word p?st?? (pistos), meaning "water," and refers to the aquatic nature of the plants.