Victoria (waterlily)

Victoria is the genus of giant water lilies in the plant family Nymphaeaceae. The species of this classification have very large leaves that float on the water's surface, the most well known and largest, Victoria amazonica, has a leaf that is up to 3 m in diameter on a stalk 7–8 m in length. Victoria is named after Queen Victoria. Victoria amazonica was once called Victoria regia, but the species name was superseded - although in Brazil it is still called that way.

Thaddäus Haenke was among the first to describe them, but as he stayed in South America until his death in 1816, later British explorers named the plant after their Queen.

Victoria 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 scarab beetles.

Another species, Victoria cruziana, in the Parana-Paraguay basin which is only slightly smaller, with the underside of the leaves purple rather than the red of V. amazonica, and covered with a peachlike fuzz lacking in V. amazonica. V. cruziana opens its flowers at dusk.

A third type, Victoria mattogrossensis or Victoria cruziana var. mattogrossensis, found in the pantanal region, resembles V. cruziana except in having huge seeds.


Species
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 The species was once called Victoria regia after Queen Victoria, but the name was superseded.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.

Victoria cruziana

Victoria mattogrossensis


FLOWERS
Victoria Waterlily

Photograph by Dirk van der Made - under Creative Commons Attribution 1.0 license

Victoria cruziana



Victoria cruziana leaves



Victoria amazonica

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