Its round, smooth, leathery, heart-shaped leaf blades reach a diameter of about 5 cm. The lower surface of the blades is usually dark purplish-red in colour. The floating blades have elongate stalks, 4-6 cm long, and form a rosette from the short submerged stem.
Horizontal runners form at the base of the plants and give rise to new plantlets at their tips.
Long unbranched dangling roots have the appearance of elongate narrow bottle brushes due to the dense cover of green root hairs. By mid-summer dense mats of interlocking plants form over the surface of the water. A single white flower, about 1.5 cm in diameter, having a small yellow area at the base of each of the three petals, is borne at the top of the 8-10 cm long flower stalk. I ts preferred habitats are quiet, open water in marshes, ditches and swamps. When present along river shorelines or streams, plants are generally found in quiet backwaters.