The new species, named Victoria boliviana, was originally thought to be one of two previously known species, Victoria amazonica and Victoria cruziana, because it was so similar. The overall genus Victoria was originally named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. boliviana comes from the fact that it comes from Bolivia. But a closer look reveals several unique features. “They have these huge floating round leaves,” Natalia Przelomska, a genomic biodiversity researcher with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, told As It Happens guest Ginella Massa. “Leaves can grow over 10 feet in diameter” or more than three meters. Researchers at Kew Gardens measuring Victoria, Bolivia. (RBG Kew) Like the other species, Victoria boliviana grows showy flowers, which bloom for only about two days, from white to pink. And, if you get close, they have thorns around the lip and under the plant. These spikes help protect the plant from anything that wants to eat them. Those spikes “could be used to outcompete other plants” for the territory, said Przelomska, who also called water lilies a “charismatic species.” Natalia Przelomska said that water lily flowers only bloom for about 2 days. (RBG Kew) “It’s not a very nice thing to grow next to, so these water lilies can really dominate their environment.” Przelomska and her team published their findings this week in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
The charm of the water lily
Sean Graham, a professor in the botany department at the University of British Columbia, said giant water lilies have always been interesting to people, especially during the Victorian era. “Giant water lilies have been iconic attractions in botanic gardens since Victorian times when they were used to attract the patronage of royalty at the time,” he said. Dr. Sean Graham is a professor in the department of botany at the University of British Columbia. (Elaine S. Lane) While this is the case, he said these giant plants weren’t always “so well studied.” This is mainly because Victoria plants are under-represented in museum collections. “Their giant, prickly floating leaves are quite difficult to handle and dry for preservation as reference herbaceous specimens,” Graham said. “And unfortunately, important early reference specimens were also lost or destroyed in World War II, further hindering scientific research into them.”
The discovery
Sometimes, discovering new plant species like Bolivia could be an extensive process. Other times, “there may only be a few pieces of the puzzle that need to be put in place to identify a new species,” Przelomska said. “It’s our job to put these puzzle pieces together as quickly as we can to discover new species.” The leaves of Victoria boliviana can grow up to 3 meters in diameter. (RBG Kew) Determining why this species is so different from the other two is quite simple, he explained: first, it has larger leaves, seeds and flowers than amazonian and crusiana. But the flower inside the lily may be its most unique feature. “This is the area where the beetles that pollinate these flowers get trapped for a while. So they can get completely covered in pollen and fly away,” he said. For those wondering why scientists didn’t recognize the plant as a new species earlier, Przelomska said for now, there aren’t enough experts to identify it. Przelomska with fellow researchers Oscar Pérez Escobar, Alex Monro, Carlos Magdalena and Lucy Smith with the Victoria specimens. (RBG Kew) “While we have live plants at Kew, most of the plants we have there are actually dried specimens,” he explained. “So we’re very privileged to have a herbarium that has seven million dried plant specimens, and we just don’t have enough experts to quickly go research and identify all these new plants.” Written by Keena Alwahaidi. Interview with Natalia Przelomska produced by Morgan Passi.
title: “Scientists Discover A New Species Of Giant Water Lily That Can Grow Up To 3 Meters Wide " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-02” author: “David Cattaneo”
The new species, named Victoria boliviana, was originally thought to be one of two previously known species, Victoria amazonica and Victoria cruziana, because it was so similar. The overall genus Victoria was originally named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. boliviana comes from the fact that it comes from Bolivia. But a closer look reveals several unique features. “They have these huge floating round leaves,” Natalia Przelomska, a genomic biodiversity researcher with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, told As It Happens guest Ginella Massa. “Leaves can grow over 10 feet in diameter” or more than three meters. Researchers at Kew Gardens measuring Victoria, Bolivia. (RBG Kew) Like the other species, Victoria boliviana grows showy flowers, which bloom for only about two days, from white to pink. And, if you get close, they have thorns around the lip and under the plant. These spikes help protect the plant from anything that wants to eat them. Those spikes “could be used to outcompete other plants” for the territory, said Przelomska, who also called water lilies a “charismatic species.” Natalia Przelomska said that water lily flowers only bloom for about 2 days. (RBG Kew) “It’s not a very nice thing to grow next to, so these water lilies can really dominate their environment.” Przelomska and her team published their findings this week in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
The charm of the water lily
Sean Graham, a professor in the botany department at the University of British Columbia, said giant water lilies have always been interesting to people, especially during the Victorian era. “Giant water lilies have been iconic attractions in botanic gardens since Victorian times when they were used to attract the patronage of royalty at the time,” he said. Dr. Sean Graham is a professor in the department of botany at the University of British Columbia. (Elaine S. Lane) While this is the case, he said these giant plants weren’t always “so well studied.” This is mainly because Victoria plants are under-represented in museum collections. “Their giant, prickly floating leaves are quite difficult to handle and dry for preservation as reference herbaceous specimens,” Graham said. “And unfortunately, important early reference specimens were also lost or destroyed in World War II, further hindering scientific research into them.”
The discovery
Sometimes, discovering new plant species like Bolivia could be an extensive process. Other times, “there may only be a few pieces of the puzzle that need to be put in place to identify a new species,” Przelomska said. “It’s our job to put these puzzle pieces together as quickly as we can to discover new species.” The leaves of Victoria boliviana can grow up to 3 meters in diameter. (RBG Kew) Determining why this species is so different from the other two is quite simple, he explained: first, it has larger leaves, seeds and flowers than amazonian and crusiana. But the flower inside the lily may be its most unique feature. “This is the area where the beetles that pollinate these flowers get trapped for a while. So they can get completely covered in pollen and fly away,” he said. For those wondering why scientists didn’t recognize the plant as a new species earlier, Przelomska said for now, there aren’t enough experts to identify it. Przelomska with fellow researchers Oscar Pérez Escobar, Alex Monro, Carlos Magdalena and Lucy Smith with the Victoria specimens. (RBG Kew) “While we have live plants at Kew, most of the plants we have there are actually dried specimens,” he explained. “So we’re very privileged to have a herbarium that has seven million dried plant specimens, and we just don’t have enough experts to quickly go research and identify all these new plants.” Written by Keena Alwahaidi. Interview with Natalia Przelomska produced by Morgan Passi.
