In big news, Kew Gardens announced last week that it had identified a large relative of the giant waterlily, Victoria amazonica. The giant waterlily has been named new to science and its discovery has a modern-day twist as it was found not in the jungle but by a botanist browsing online.
The new lily is Victoria colombiana, and it’s the fourth waterlily named in the genus Victoria. The search for this waterlily began with a chance sighting online by Carlos Magdalena, one of Kew’s botanical horticulturists.
Working with researchers in Colombia and indigenous communities, a team located a remote population of the plant in a small lake, where they were able to document seven plants and gather essential information.
This species is extremely rare and thought to be critically endangered, but there’s hope that this discovery could help secure its long-term conservation.
New giant waterlily gets a name
