''Victoria'' or giant waterlily is a genus of water-lilies, in the plant family

Nymphaeaceae Nymphaeaceae () is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains nine genera with about 70 known species. Water ...

, with very large green leaves that lie flat on the water's surface. '' Victoria boliviana'' has a leaf that is up to in width, on a stalk up to in length. The genus name was given in honour of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. It pushes other water plants aside as it spreads out until only those of its kind remains. When this happens it has completely cut out the sunlight from getting to any plants below the water. All three species typically have four

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

each measuring long by wide. There are typically 50 to 70 petals and 150 to 200 stamens.

Extant species

The first published description of the genus was by

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

in 1837, based on specimens returned from

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was ...

by Robert Schomburgk. Lindley named the genus after the new Queen, Victoria, and the species ''Victoria regia''. An earlier account of the species, ''Euryale amazonica'' Poeppig, in 1832 described an affinity with ''

Euryale ferox ''Euryale ferox,'' commonly known as prickly waterlily, makhana or Gorgon plant, is a species of water lily found in southern and eastern Asia, and the only extant member of the genus ''Euryale''. The edible seeds, called fox nuts or ''makhan ...

''. A collection and description was also made by the French botanist

Aimé Bonpland Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland (; 22 August 1773 – 11 May 1858) was a French explorer and botanist who traveled with Alexander von Humboldt in Latin America from 1799 to 1804. He co-authored volumes of the scientific results of their ex ...

in 1825. The leaf is able to support a weight of up to , suitably distributed, although the leaf surface is delicate: so much so that "a straw held 6 inches above and dropped perpendicularly upon it would readily pass through it".

References

External links

Giant waterlily at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria (plant) Nymphaeaceae Aquatic plants Flora of Guyana Flora of the Amazon Nymphaeales genera