I think with Jay's input this will be Nelumba lutea also known as American Lotus. The experiment is off to a good start. This morning there were 3 leaves on the water surface. One is new today, but the other two are older leaves that had to grow the leaf stems longer to reach the surface. Another leaf has grown, but it may or may not reach the surface. I think the oldest leaf on the runner will stay submerged.
It's interesting to me to watch the cattle trough come to life. It's filled with water for human consumption with all the associated chemicals that sort of treated water contains. In my case, the water is also from wells currently and has lots of minerals in it. Very corrosive. My coffee pots are short lived as a result. Even running vinegar at full strength through it only buys time. The water will kill feeder goldfish when it is fresh.
But the process of taking dead water and converting it to a living body of water starts almost immediately. I filled the trough up over a period of three days to give the lotus a chance to adjust to the deeper depth. When I went to fill it the 3rd day there was already an aquatic insect swimming in it. I think a water boatman or backswimmer. On the next day there was another. Insects are drowning on the surface. When the moon is reflected, they fly to the light and drown. When the cattle drink, they add cow slobber and snot and a lot of dirt and vegetation debris. All that begins to decompose and the water starts coming to life. Even adding new water to replace what the cows drink and what evaporates will not be enough to have dead water again. In a week or so, I'll be able to add a few feeder goldfish. Soon there will likely be more kinds of aquatic insects including dragonfly nymphs. I watched one of the water insects dining on a little moth this morning and watched an insect with the ability to run along the surface of the water. A mean-looking house spider was walking around the rim of the trough yesterday and today. Mosquitoes can't be far behind. There will be more and more life in the water. With all the decomposing vegetable and insect matter, algae will soon show up. Hopefully, the lotus and the fish will help keep it all in balance, especially the algae and the mosquitoes
And it's a bit of relief to see the cows trekking up to the trough instead of my big earthen pond which is heading into the danger zone rapidly under the current weather conditions. It will still be a potential danger to the cattle, but if they are thinking of the trough first as the primary drinking water supply, then they will only be around that pond when they happen to be in the area. It won't be a special trip for a drink of water, which reduces the chances of one being caught in the much. I hate drought conditions.