at this place in kranji where lotus plants grow in the wild, there are also other water plants growing among the lotus. all along i had known that the water convulus/water spinach, which we call kang kong, exists together with the lotus plants.
incidentally, the flowers of the water convulus resemble a lot the flowers of the morning glory; that's why i was not surprised when i read (in dr tay's ieatishootipost blog) that the thais refer to this plant as morning glory. water convulus has either white or purple flowers.
this morning, i decided to find out the extent of the stretch where lotus plants are found growing. i discovered that it actually ends abruptly, at a bend in the stream. beyond that, there is very little vegetation until you come to a confluence where lots of water hyacinth and the water convulus are growing freely.
invading the space where the lotus plants are growing are the water convulus and the water lettuce. i was first impressed by the beauty of the water lettuce when they are grown clustered together when i visited the hort park last year.
the water lettuce (pistia stratiotes) is a free floating plant with many spongy, dusty green simple leaves. the leaves are covered in fine hair and arranged in a spiral pattern from the centre of the plant. the flowers are said to be rather inconspicuous. i would say almost non-existent because i checked the whole area and could not find a single flower.
water lettuce has no known direct food value to wildlife and is considered a pest species.
later in the afternoon when i went back to the same place, i saw four adults, three women and one man, standing by the side of the 'lotus stream', each holding a plastic bag. after saying a short prayer, they let the content spilled into the stream. each of them had released about ten fresh water eels. now i know why there are clear plastic bags beside the stream.
