L. flava is perennial but behaves as an annual in certain habitats. It reproduces by seed and vegetatively (by stolons). It is hydrochorous, and is a prolific seed-producing plant, with individual plants capable of yielding up to 1,000,000 seeds per year. The mechanism of seed dispersal is discussed in Nayar and Sworupanandan (1978).
L. flava flowers the whole year round. The flowers open in the morning and close after a few hours. There is no record of any pollinating agent. After anthesis, the sepals enlarge and surround the fruit whereas the petals become a slimy mass. When ripe, the fruit carpels fall into the water where they release the seeds, which sink to the bottom. The downturned inflorescence which rests on the water surface often produces a new plant (van den Bergh, 1993).
Climate