''Nymphaea ampla'', the dotleaf waterlily, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Nymphaeaceae Nymphaeaceae () is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains nine genera with about 70 known species. Water li ...

. It is native to Texas, Florida, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern and western South America. ''Nymphaea ampla'' is widely represented in

Mayan art Ancient Maya art is the visual arts of the Maya civilization, an eastern and south-eastern Mesoamerican culture made up of a great number of small kingdoms in present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Many regional artistic traditions ex ...

, especially in its depictions with

jaguars The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

and Mayan kings. Its cultural importance can be seen in one of the Mayan names of the plant; ''nikte’ha’'' ("

vulva The vulva (plural: vulvas or vulvae; derived from Latin for wrapper or covering) consists of the external sex organ, female sex organs. The vulva includes the mons pubis (or mons veneris), labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, bulb of vestibu ...

of the water") as it would have represented life, sexual activity, fertility, and birth. The plant causes

opiate An opiate, in classical pharmacology, is a substance derived from opium. In more modern usage, the term ''opioid'' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonis ...

-like effects on the user and is known to have been used as a calmative and mild trance inducer.Emboden, W.A. (1979) "''Nymphaea ampla'' and Other Mayan Narcotic Plants." ''Mexicon'' 1:50–52.

References

ampla Freshwater plants Entheogens Flora of Texas Flora of Florida Flora of Mexico Flora of Central America Flora of the Caribbean Flora of northern South America Flora of western South America Plants described in 1821 {{angiosperm-stub