Nymphaea dimorpha | |
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Nymphaea dimorpha I.M.Turner with scale bar (10 cm) against a white background | |
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Nymphaea dimorpha cultivated in the Berlin Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Order: | Nymphaeales |
Family: | Nymphaeaceae |
Genus: | Nymphaea |
Subgenus: | Nymphaea subg. Brachyceras |
Species: | N. dimorpha |
Binomial name | |
Nymphaea dimorpha I.M.Turner [1] | |
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Nymphaea dimorpha is endemic to Madagascar [1] | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Nymphaea dimorpha is a species of waterlily endemic to Madagascar. [1]
This species exhibits two distinctive growth forms. The submerged growth form has very thin foliage with short petioles. The emergent form has floating leaves with longer petioles. [2]
The chromosome count is n = 14. The genome size is 449.88 Mb. [3]
Cleistogamy occurs in this species. It can produce flowers, which never open, but self-fertilise and never reach the water surface. [2] [4]
It grows in pools of water among slowly flowing streams. [2] The pools, which are darkened with organic material, are shaded by the canopy of tropical forest. [5]
This species was first described as Nymphaea minutaK.C.Landon, R.A.Edwards & Nozaic in 2006. Later, it was discovered that this was a Nomen illegitimum, as the name was preoccupied by the French fossil waterlily Nymphaea minuta Saporta described in 1891. Therefore, the new name Nymphaea dimorphaI.M.Turner was chosen in 2014. [6]
The type specimen was collected in shaded rain pools beneath coastal forest near Tampolo, Madagascar in 1999. [7]
It is a member of Nymphaea subgen. Brachyceras. [2]
The specific epithet dimorpha references the two distinctive growth forms of this species. [6] The prefix di- means "two", [8] and -morph means shape. [9]
It is easily cultivated and suitable for low-light conditions. [2] In cultivation it may grow four times larger than plants observed in their natural habitat. This is due to better fertilisation. [5] It is very sensitive to cold temperatures. [10]
It is used in hybridisation to create new smaller waterlily cultivars. [4]