Global Range: Nymphaea odorata ssp. odorata occurs natively throughout eastern North America, from Manitoba and Ontario to the Atlantic Provinces south to Texas and Florida. This species also occurs in western North America, i.e., British Columbia, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, where it has been introduced from Eastern North America (McDougal 1973, Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1997). Its occurrence has been recorded in the following provinces and states; British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin (Scoggan 1978, Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1997, USDA-NRCS 1999, Biota of North America Program). It is also known to occur natively in Mexico, Bahamas, Cuba, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and has been naturalized in Guyana (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1997).
Nymphaea odorata is known from historical occurrences in South Dakota. It has recently been reported in Missouri River marshes in Yankton County along border with Nebraska but it is not known for certain whether the occurrences were in Nebraska or South Dakota (South Dakota Natural Heritage Database).
The Flora of North America Editorial Committee (1997) cites the occurrence of Nymphaea odorata in Alberta and New Mexico while the Biota of North America Program does not. The Alberta Natural Heritage Information Centre reported that this species is not known from Alberta, and the New Mexico Natural Heritage Program reported that it is not known from New Mexico.
Nymphaea odorata ssp. tuberosa has a smaller range than N. odorata ssp. odorata, and is reported to occur natively in the following provinces and states: Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1997, USDA-NRCS 1999).
More detailed range information was available for the following provinces and states. In provinces and states where both subspecies occur, the information provided refers to the range of the two subspecies considered together under the species N. odorata, unless the subspecies are specifically referred to.
British Columbia: southwest and south-central British Columbia (G. Douglas pers. comm.).
Manitoba: ssp. odorata - east side of Lake Winnipeg, and Hill Lake (northwestern side of Lake Winnipeg) westward to the Saskatchewan border. ssp. tuberosa - southeastern 1/6 of the province (to just north of the Winnipeg River), at the northwestern limit of its range (E. Punter pers. comm.).
Ontario: widespread in southern and central Ontario, particularly on the Precambrian (Canadian) Shield. Not sure of northern limit (M. Oldham pers. comm.).
Quebec: ssp. odorata - across southern Quebec up to the 48th latitude. ssp. tuberosa - mainly restricted to the St. Lawrence River system (J. Labrecque pers. comm.).
Alaska: one record from Baranof Island in south-east Alaska (Alaska Natural Heritage Program).
Arizona: found in Clear Creek Reservoir, Navajo County, and Yavapai (Arizona Heritage Data Management System).
California: under elevations of 2,700 m in scattered localities including Lake Tahoe, Sacramento Valley (Butte County) and the San Bernardino Mountains (California Natural Diversity Database).
Colorado: reported in Colorado (Biota of North America Program, Herbarium COLO).
Delaware: occurs in piedmont and coastal plain (Delaware Natural Heritage Program).
Florida: occurs through the state (Wunderlin et al. 1995).
Georgia: known from 25 counties mostly in the southern half of the state (USDA-NRCS 1999).
Idaho: most common in and perhaps restricted to approximately the northern third of the state (M. Mancuso pers. comm.).
Illinois: occurs statewide (W. McClain pers. comm.).
Indiana: mostly confined to northern 1/4 of the state (Indiana Natural Heritage Data Center)
Iowa: frequent in Lakes Area of north-west Iowa; infrequent to rare elsewhere (Iowa Department of Natural Resources).
Kansas: widely scattered throughout the eastern three-fourths of Kansas, but apparently most common in the southeastern sixth (C. Freeman pers. comm.).
Kentucky: reported in 9 counties scattered throughout the state (USDA-NRCS 1999).
Louisiana: occurs statewide (Louisiana Natural Heritage Program).
Massachusetts: occurs in every county in Massachusetts (USDA-NRCS 1999).
Maine: occurs in every county (Haines and Vining 1998, D. Cameron pers. comm.).
Michigan: common and widespread throughout state (Michigan Natural Features Inventory).
Minnesota: occurs statewide (Minnesota Natural Heritage).
Missouri: scattered occurrences in central and southern portions of state (T. Smith pers. comm.)
Nevada: introduced in Nevada (Nevada Natural Heritage Program).
New York: occurs in every county of the state (S. Young pers. comm.).
North Carolina: recorded in 40 counties throughout the state (North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, Radford et al. 1968)
Ohio: occurs throughout state (Ohio Natural Heritage Data Base).
Rhode Island: occurs in all but one county in the state (USDA-NRCS 1999)
South Carolina: recorded in 26 counties scattered throughout the state (Boyle et al.).
South Dakota: historically documented from 2 sites in Minnehaha county in the south-east (Larson 1993, South Dakota Natural Heritage Database).
Tennessee: known to occur in 7 counties scattered throughout the state (The APSU Center for Field Biology and University of Tennessee Herbarium 1999).
Utah: occurs in Kane, Utah, and Washington (?) counties (B. Franklin pers. comm.).
Virginia: reported in about 25 counties mostly in the south-east portion of the state (USDA-NRCS 1999).
Vermont: ssp. odorata ubiquitous while ssp. tuberosa is restricted to more alkaline waters, mostly in the Lake Champlain Valley (R. Popp pers. comm.).
Wisconsin: occurs throughout the state (K. Westad pers. comm.).
West Virginia: occurs in 6 counties in western two-thirds of the state (USDA-NRCS 1999).