It is a water plant with the name, American lotus. In Louisiana we call it Graine a Voler, or seeds that fly. The flower is magnificent in all forms, bud or fully blown. The seed pod contains about 25 seeds that can be eaten raw or cooked. The roots and leaf parts were used by the American Indians for food and medicinal purposes.
To come upon a water field of the Graine a Voler blooming in mid-summer is a sight one never forgets. The leaves, or pads, or huge and can be worn as a sunhat. They hold rainwater that the birds seek. The flowers open shortly after sunrise and wane as the sunsets.
The flowers do not last as cut flowers, perhaps for only a few hours if one takes great care in transporting them from the water fields.