Wild lilies: food & medicine. Another species in the water lily family (Nymphaeaceae), Nelumbo lutea / American lotus, was also an important food source, with its seeds and/or roots being eaten by the Tonkawa, Comanche, Osage, Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Winnebago, Pawnee, Ojibwe, and others. Both were generally cooked to prepare. The roots of Nuphar polysepala / Rocky Mountain pond lily were eaten raw or boiled by the Northern Cheyenne. The flower buds eaten by the Ojibwe were from Nymphaea odorata /