This is an attractive little plant for the pond margins. Shiny, heart-shaped leaves are a rich green, accentuating the beauty of the unusual white flower spathes. These are followed in the autumn by a globular cluster of red berries. A low, rafting plant, the floating rootstocks creep across the water providing excellent cover for aquatic life. New plants can be propagated by dividing the rootstock. This plant is unusual as it is one of the few known to be fertilised by pond snails. In Lapland the rhizomes are used to produce flour that is baked into a kind of bread.