This aquatic plant is enjoying growing in the stream.
The powdery alligator flag (Thalia dealbata) has ovate to paddle-shaped grey-green leaves to 50cm in length, which are covered in a white bloom. During summer it produces scapes to 3m in length, which rise above the foliage and carry panicles up to 20cm long of tubular, purple flowers. What appear to be petals are in fact sterile stamens (staminodes) which when disturbed by insects throw pollen into the face of pollinators, which can lead to the demise of the pollinator. This is a North American species occurring from Alabama to Texas, where it grows in cypress swamps, marshes and plains. The genus takes its name from the German physician Johannes Thal (1542-1583). The specific name dealbata is Latin for ‘white powdery covering’, ‘whitened’, or ‘white-washed’, while the common name ‘powdery’ also refers to this white bloom.