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Interesting plant species
The floating heart (the fringed water-lily) Nymphoides peltata
When in summer we pass through some of the fish-farming pond complexes of the O¶więcim-Zator Region, we will see a strange sight - a golden-yellow water surface?! It is worth stopping there for a while and taking a closer look at this phenomenon, as we deal with an extremely rare and endangered plant - the floating heart.
The floating heart is a perennial aquatic plant with beautiful, though small yellow flowers and floating leaves, similar to the leaves of the white and yellow water-lilies. The plant prefers shallow fertile waters that quickly warm up in summer. Natural habitats of the fringed water-lily - river cut-offs and shallow parts of lakes - are disappearing as a result of human activity. In the 20th century, the floating heart still occurred at around 50 locations in Poland - mainly in the river valleys of the Vistula and the Odra. At present it has been noted to occur only at 25 sites. That is why the species was given legal protection (1983) and entered in "The Polish Red Data Book of Plants" as a species threatened with extinction. Currently the fish-farming ponds of the O¶więcim-Zator region and the Barycz Valley (Lower Silesia) are the most important refuges of the species.
The floating heart covers several dozen basins within the boundaries of a few fish-farming pond complexes. It is the easiest to see on the ponds in Spytkowice, Przeręb and Bugaj and on the Monów Ponds, where it spreads over extensive surfaces.
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