Dicotyledonous, rhizomatous, perennial, aquatic plants with various flower colors.There are 8 genera in this widely distributed family.This genus has about 35 species of cosmopolitan aquatic herbs. The nymphoid (water lily) type of leaf is found in the related families Cabombaceae and Nymphaceae, and also in Nmphoides of Menyanthaceae, a family closely related to the gentians! In all of them, the upper surface of the leaf is waxy to repel water, the petiole is long and flexible to cope with fluctuating water levels, the plants have many air cavities for floating and conduction of oxygen down to the rhizomes, and the pedicels hold the flowers out of the water or at least up to the surface.