A small, erect herb with pairs of narrow leaves that are edible and have a mild flavour. They can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as a green vegetable. The small, pink flowers appear in summer. It grows in damp, open areas and wetlands throughout New Zealand. It is a native relative of aquatic rotala species. A plant of the wet edge. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs along the stem. They are narrow and lance-shaped, bright green, with a smooth surface. The stems are erect and branching, forming small, bushy clumps. A modest plant. Easy to overlook. The flowers are small and pink, with four or five petals. They appear in summer and are followed by small, capsule-like fruits containing the seeds. The flowers are pollinated by insects. A small pink dot in the green of the wetland. Native rotala is a plant of wetlands and damp places. It grows on stream banks, lake margins, and in damp grassland. It tolerates seasonal flooding but cannot survive prolonged drought. A plant that needs water, but not too much. To find native rotala is to walk the edges of wetlands and streams. Look for the small, pink flowers, the pairs of narrow leaves. It is a plant of the wet places, a green vegetable from the water's edge. A handful of leaves can add a mild flavour to a salad. A small harvest from a small plant. In the wetlands, where the raupo grows tall and the pukeko calls, the native rotala grows low and quiet. The pink flowers open in summer. The insects visit. The seeds fall. The water rises and falls. And the rotala keeps growing, low and quiet, at the edge of the water. It does not need to be noticed. It just needs the ground to stay damp.