Nymphaea gigantea

Last updated

Giant waterlily
Nymphaea gigantea 11865986.jpg
In natural habitat in
north Queensland
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Order: Nymphaeales
Family: Nymphaeaceae
Genus: Nymphaea
Subgenus: Nymphaea subg. Anecphya
Species:
N. gigantea
Binomial name
Nymphaea gigantea
Synonyms [3]
  • Castalia gigantea(Hook.) Britten
  • Leuconymphaea gigantea(Hook.) Kuntze
  • Nymphaea gigantea var. normalis Domin
  • Nymphaea gigantea var. alba Benth. & F.Muell.) K.C.Landon
  • Nymphaea gigantea f. albaBenth. & F.Muell.
  • Nymphaea gigantea f. candidaDomin
  • Nymphaea gigantea f. hudsonii(Anon.) K.C.Landon
  • Nymphaea gigantea var. hudsoniiAnon.
  • Nymphaea gigantea var. neoroseaK.C.Landon
  • Nymphaea gigantea var. roseaLovassy
  • Nymphaea gigantea var. serrataDomin
  • Victoria fitzroyana Loudon

Nymphaea gigantea, commonly known as the giant waterlily or blue waterlily, is a perennial, herbaceous plant in the family Nymphaeaceae which is native to parts of northern and eastern Australia, and possibly New Guinea, and has been widely cultivated elsewhere. It is an aquatic plant whose natural habitat is permanent and semi-permanent still water bodies.

Contents

Description

The giant waterlily has a rhizomatous growth habit - that is, the main stem of the plant grows horizontally under the ground (in this case in the mud at the bottom of a lake or pond) and only the leaves and flowers are seen above the surface. The rhizome is globose, the large floating leaves are orbicular to slightly egg-shaped, and cordate (i.e. the petiole, or leaf stem, attaches to the leaf blade at the base of a deep radial cleft). [4] [5] They measure up to 80 cm (31 in) diameter and are glabrous (hairless) on both sides, with regularly-spaced teeth along the margins measuring about 5 mm (0.20 in) long. [4] [5]

The large flowers are solitary and up to 25 cm (9.8 in) diameter. They are held on a rigid, upright peduncle that may extend up to 50 cm (20 in) above the water surface. [4] [5] They have four green sepals that measure about 11 cm (4.3 in) long and sometimes have blue or purple streaks, and up to 32 petals that are initially lilac or blue but fade to almost white with age. [4] [5]

The fruit is – in botanical terms – a berry. After fertilisation of the flower it is drawn underwater by the contraction of the peduncle (i.e. the flower stalk), [6] where the fruit ripens just below the surface. [7] They are roughly the size of an apple and may contain up to 3,000 seeds. [7]

Phenology

Flowering occurs throughout the year, but is more common in warmer months. The flowers are open during the day and closed at night. [4]

Cytology

The chromosome count is n = 112. The genome size is 2709.06 Mb. [8]

Taxonomy

Nymphaea gigantea was first described in 1852 by the English botanist and illustrator William Jackson Hooker in The Botanical Magazine, based on material collected by John Carne Bidwill from the Wide Bay area of Queensland (at that time still a part of the colony of New South Wales). The description was accompanied by an illustration by Walter Hood Fitch detailing the flower. [2] [9] [10]

Distribution and habitat

The range of the giant waterlily in Australia is from northeastern New South Wales, through eastern and northern Queensland, northern parts of the Northern Territory, and the far northeast of Western Australia. [3] [5] [11] [12] Some non-authoritative sources claim it is also native to New Guinea. [13] [14]

The habitat is permanent and semi-permanent waters of lakes, billabongs, and sluggish rivers where the bottom is deep mud and the water depth is at least 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). [5] [13] [15] : 109 

Conservation

This species is listed by the Queensland Government's Department of Environment, Science and Innovation as "special least concern", a rating unique to Queensland which is ranked between "least concern" and "near threatened". [1] [16] As of 6 July 2023, this species has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Cultivation

The species was brought to England by Frederick Strange, where it received notices in newspapers and began to be cultivated by nurseries. [10]

Uses

Various parts of Nymphaea gigantea are edible and the plant was an important staple food for indigenous Australians across the northern parts of Australia. [13] [15] : 226  The golfball-sized tubers were collected from the muddy bottoms of water bodies by indigenous women and roasted before eating. [7] [13] [15] : 226  The flower buds and peeled stalks were eaten raw, and the seeds could either be eaten on their own after roasting the whole fruit, or were pounded to make a flour for damper. [7] [13] [15] : 109  [15] : 226 

Related Research Articles

<i>Nymphaea</i> Genus of aquatic plants

Nymphaea is a genus of hardy and tender aquatic plants in the family Nymphaeaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution. Many species are cultivated as ornamental plants, and many cultivars have been bred. Some taxa occur as introduced species where they are not native, and some are weeds. Plants of the genus are known commonly as water lilies, or waterlilies in the United Kingdom. The genus name is from the Greek νυμφαία, nymphaia and the Latin nymphaea, which means "water lily" and were inspired by the nymphs of Greek and Latin mythology.

<i>Nymphaea alba</i> Species of water lily

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<i>Nymphaea nouchali <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> caerulea</i> Species of plant

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<i>Semecarpus australiensis</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Cupaniopsis anacardioides</i> Species of tree

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<i>Nymphaea nouchali</i> Species of aquatic plant

Nymphaea nouchali, often known by its synonym Nymphaea stellata, or by common names blue lotus, star lotus, red water lily, dwarf aquarium lily, blue water lily, blue star water lily or manel flower, is a water lily of genus Nymphaea. It is native to southern and eastern parts of Asia, and is the national flower of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In Sanskrit it is called utpala. This species is usually considered to include the blue Egyptian lotus N. nouchali var. caerulea. In the past, taxonomic confusion has occurred, with the name Nymphaea nouchali incorrectly applied to Nymphaea pubescens.

<i>Nymphaea thermarum</i> Species of water lily

Nymphaea thermarum, also known as Pygmy Rwandan water lily, is a species of water lily that is endemic to Rwanda. Once thought to be extinct in the wild, all wild plants were believed to be lost due to destruction of its native habitat, but it was thought to be saved from extinction when it was grown from seed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 2009. A previously-unknown wild population was discovered in 2023.

<i>Nymphaea violacea</i> Species of water lily

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<i>Mucuna gigantea</i> Species of plant in the family Fabaceae

Mucuna gigantea, commonly known as burny bean, burney bean, velvet bean or sea bean is a species of liana from the legume family Fabaceae. Its natural range roughly follows the perimeter of the Indian Ocean and includes Africa, India, Malesia, New Guinea and northern Australia. Many parts of the plant - in particular the new growth, flowers and fruit - are covered in fine irritant hairs.

<i>Nymphaea gardneriana</i> Species of water lily

Nymphaea gardneriana is a species of waterlily native to Cuba and tropical South America.

<i>Nymphaea rudgeana</i> Species of water lily

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Nymphaea belophylla is a species of waterlily native to Bolivia, Brazil and Venezuela.

<i>Nymphaea paganuccii</i> Species of water lily

Nymphaea paganuccii is a species of waterlily endemic to Brazil.

<i>Nymphaea siamensis</i> Species of water lily

Nymphaea siamensis is a species of waterlily endemic to Thailand.

<i>Nymphaea vaporalis</i> Species of water lily

Nymphaea vaporalis is a species of waterlily endemic to Queensland, Australia.

Nymphaea pulchella is a species of waterlily native to the regions spanning from Central and Southern Mexico to Brazil, as well as from the Bahamas to the Virgin Islands, including St. Croix.

<i>Nymphaea georginae</i> Species of water lily

Nymphaea georginae is a species of waterlily native to the Northern Territory, and the state of Queensland, Australia.

<i>Nymphaea immutabilis</i> Species of water lily

Nymphaea immutabilis is a species of waterlily native to Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland, Australia.

<i>Nymphaea rubra</i> Species of water lily

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References

  1. 1 2 "Species profile—Nymphaea gigantea". Queensland Department of Environment and Science. Queensland Government. 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Nymphaea gigantea". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian Government . Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Nymphaea gigantea Hook". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nymphaea gigantea". Flora of Australia . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, the Environment and Water: Canberra. 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "PlantNET - FloraOnline". PlantNET (The NSW Plant Information Network System). Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "PlantNET - FloraOnline". PlantNET (The NSW Plant Information Network System). Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Low, Tim (1998). Wild Food Plants of Australia. Sydney: Angus & Robertson Publishers. p. 56. ISBN   0-207-16930-6.
  8. ↑ Chen, Fei; Liu, Xing; Yu, Cuiwei; Chen, Yuchu; Tang, Haibao; Zhang, Liangsheng (2017). "Water lilies as emerging models for Darwin's abominable mystery" (PDF). Horticulture Research. 4 (1): 17051. Bibcode:2017HorR....417051C. doi:10.1038/hortres.2017.51. PMC   5626932 . PMID   28979789. S2CID   1295747.
  9. ↑ Hooker, William Jackson (1852). "Tab 4647 Nymphaea gigantea". Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 78. Illustrated by Walter Hood Fitch.
  10. 1 2 Whittell, H. M. (1947). "Frederick Strange". The Australian Zoologist. 11: 96–114.
  11. ↑ "Search: species: Nymphaea gigantea | Occurrence records". Australasian Virtual Herbarium . Australian Government . Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  12. ↑ "Nymphaea gigantea". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Beasley, John (2009). Plants of Cape York - the compact guide. John Beasley. p. 222. ISBN   978-0-9806863-0-2.
  14. ↑ Mills, Colin. "Nymphaea gigantea Hook". Hortus Camdenensis. Colin Mills. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Isaacs, Jennifer (1987). Bush Food - Aboriginal Food and Herbal Medicine. Sydney: Lansdowne Publishing. ISBN   0725408340.
  16. ↑ "Threatened species conservation classes". Queensland Department of Environment, Land and Water. Queensland Government . Retrieved 14 August 2024.
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