Victoria amazonica
| Queen Victoria's water lily | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Victoria amazonica at the Adelaide Botanic Garden, South Australia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| Order: | Nymphaeales |
| Family: | Nymphaeaceae |
| Genus: | Victoria |
| Species: | V. amazonica |
| Binomial name | |
|
Victoria amazonica (Poepp.) J.C. Sowerby |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
Victoria amazonica is a species of flowering plant, the largest of the Nymphaeaceae family of water lilies.
The species has very large leaves, up to 3 m in diameter, that float on the water's surface on a submerged stalk, 7–8 m in length. The species was once called Victoria regia after Queen Victoria, but the name was superseded. V. amazonica is native to the shallow waters of the Amazon River basin, such as oxbow lakes and bayous. It is depicted in the Guyanese coat of arms. The flowers are white the first night they are open and become pink the second night. They are up to 40 cm in diameter, and are pollinated by beetles. This process was described in detail by Sir Ghillean Prance and Jorge Arius.It is the largest waterlily in the world.
A member of the genus Victoria placed in the Nymphaeaceae family or, sometimes, in the Euryalaceae. The first published description of the genus was by John Lindley in October 1837, based on specimens of this plant returned from British Guiana by Robert Schomburgk. Lindley named the genus after the newly ascended Queen Victoria, and the species Victoria regia. The spelling in Schomburgk's description in Athenaeum, published the month before, was given as Victoria Regina. Despite this spelling being adopted by the Botanical Society of London for their new emblem, Lindley's was the version used throughout the nineteenth century.
An earlier account of the species, Euryale amazonica by Eduard Friedrich Poeppig, in 1832 described an affinity with Euryale ferox. A collection and description was also made by the French botanist Aimé Bonpland in 1825. In 1850 James De Carle Sowerby recognised Poeppig's earlier description and transferred its epithet amazonica. The new name was rejected by Lindley. The current name, Victoria amazonica, did not come into widespread use until the twentieth century.
...
Wikipedia