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 five genera with about 70 known species. Water lilies are rooted in soil in bodies of water, with leaves and flowers floating on or rising from the surface. Leaves are oval and heart-shaped in Barclaya. Leaves are round, with a radial notch in Nymphaea and Nuphar, but fully circular in Victoria and Euryale.
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.
Nelumbo is a genus of aquatic plants with large, showy flowers. Members are commonly called lotus, though the name is also applied to various other plants and plant groups, including the unrelated genus Lotus. Members outwardly resemble those in the family Nymphaeaceae, but Nelumbo is actually very distant from that family.
Victoria amazonica is a species of flowering plant, the second largest in the water lily family Nymphaeaceae. It is called Vitória-Régia or Iaupê-Jaçanã in Brazil and Atun Sisac in Inca (Quechua). Its native region is tropical South America, specifically Guyana and the Amazon Basin.
Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea, is a water lily in the genus Nymphaea, a botanical variety of Nymphaea nouchali.
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 makhana, are dried, and eaten predominantly in Asia.
Nuphar lutea, the yellow water-lily, brandy-bottle, or spadderdock, is an aquatic plant of the family Nymphaeaceae, native to northern temperate and some subtropical regions of Europe, northwest Africa, and western Asia. This species was used as a food source and in medicinal practices from prehistoric times with potential research and medical applications going forward.
Charles William Brett Tricker (1852–1916) was an English-born estate gardener. He trained at Kew Gardens in London, before emigrating to the United States in the later 19th century. His interest was in aquatic plants, and he began a company, named William Tricker, that specialized in aquatic plants. The company sent out its first mail order catalog in 1892, and is still operating, as William Tricker, Inc. based in Independence, Ohio. The company currently displays Tricker's original catalog. Being a plantsman, he wrote many articles for the publication Garden and Forest in the 1890s dealing with aquatic plants. He is well known for producing many hybrid water lilies that are still known around the world. He introduced a water lily with 6-feet pads from South America, which he named Victoria trickeri, although it is now known as Victoria cruziana. He died in 1916, after which his son, Charles Tricker, took over the business.
Dracunculus vulgaris is a species of aroid flowering plant in the genus Dracunculus and the arum family Araceae. Common names include the common dracunculus, dragon lily, dragon arum, black arum and vampire lily. In Greece, part of its native range, the plant is called drakondia, the long spadix being viewed as a small dragon hiding in the spathe.
Nymphaea odorata, also known as the American white waterlily, fragrant water-lily, beaver root, fragrant white water lily, white water lily, sweet-scented white water lily, and sweet-scented water lily, is an aquatic plant belonging to the genus Nymphaea. It can commonly be found in shallow lakes, ponds, and permanent slow moving waters throughout North America where it ranges from Central America to northern Canada. It is also reported from Brazil and Guyana.
Dendrobium speciosum, commonly known as the rock orchid or cane orchid, is a species of highly variable Australian orchid. Its varieties can be found in a range of habitats as epiphytes or lithophytes. It has a continuous distribution along the east coast of Australia and in distinct populations along the Tropic of Capricorn. As a lithophyte, it forms gigantic spreading colonies on rocks and cliff faces, often exposed to full sun, with its roots forming dense, matted beds across the rock that anchor the plant. It can be found at altitudes from sea level to 900 metres (3,000 ft).
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.
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.
Victoria boliviana, or the Bolivian waterlily is a new species of water lily within the genus Victoria in the family Nymphaeaceae. It is the newest described species of the genus and its largest member in size and was officially identified in 2022. In January 2023, the species was awarded three Guinness World Record titles for world's largest waterlily species, world's largest waterlily leaf and world's largest undivided leaf, with the latter two specifically recognizing a specimen grown in 2012 at La Rinconada Gardens in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Nymphaea rudgeana is a species of waterlily native to the region spanning from Mexico to tropical South America.
Nymphaea tenuinervia is a species of waterlily native to Colombia, Guyana and Brazil.
Nymphaea lasiophylla is a species of waterlily native to East Brazil. It has also been introduced to the Venezuelan Antilles.
Nymphaea heudelotii is a species of waterlily native to the region spanning from tropical West Africa to Uganda and Botswana.
Nymphaea gracilis is a species of waterlily endemic to Mexico. It is the only species of its genus which is endemic to Mexico.
Nymphaea nouchali var. ovalifolia is a variety of the water lily species Nymphaea nouchali Burm.f. native to the region spanning from West Tanzania to South Africa.
