Saturday, June 03, 2006

Waterlily


The genus Victoria represents the giant water lilies. The most famous, Victoria amazonica, is the largest of all the water lilies with leaves sometimes nearly 3 m in diameter, on stalks 7-8 m in length. Victoria is named after Queen Victoria. V. amazonica was once called Victoria regia, but the species name was superseded.
V. amazonica is native to the shallow waters of the Amazon River basin, such as oxbow lakes and bayous. It is depicted in the Guyanese coat of arms. The flowers are white the first night they are open and become pink the second night. They are up to 40 cm in diameter, and are pollinated by beetles.

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