More on American Lotus

I did a little quick research on the American Lotus, which is the target of spraying at Tappan Lake to limit the spread of the plant.
It is native to the southeast United States, but was apparently brought north by Indians who used them for a food source (the roots, young leaves and young seed pods are edible). The plant was spread north into Canada and is found in several counties in Ohio.
From what I found on several websites, the problem is the plant can choke out other weed growth and can be a severe hinderance to navigation. If you've tried to get a boat through some of those fields at Tappan, you know what they're talking about.
The spread of the plants at Tappan has not been extreme, but they have gotten worse the last couple years and knocking them back a bit makes sense.
Most people fishing Tappan refer to the lotus plants as lily pads, but they're not. The pads are bigger, and do not have a notch where the stem spreads into the leaf.