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. 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.