Victoria or giant waterlily is a genus of aquatic herbs in the plant family Nymphaeaceae. The leaves are a remarkable size; Victoria boliviana produces leaves up to in width. The genus name was given in honour of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.Knotts, K., & Knotts, B. (n.d.). Introduction to Victoria. Victoria Adventure. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://victoria-adventure.com/victoria/victoria_intro.html
Description
Vegetative characteristics Victoria species are rhizomatous, aquatic, short-lived, perennial herbs with tuberous rhizomes bearing contractilePellegrini, M.O.O. Nymphaeaceae in Flora e Funga do Brasil. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. Available at: https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/FB24052 consulta.publica.uc.citacao.acesso.em28 Nov. 2024 adventitious roots. The floating leaves are peltate and orbicular. The margin of the lamina is raised to form a rim high. The lamina possesses stomatodes (i.e. microscopic perforations) which are believed to allow rainwater to escape.Gessner, F. (1950). Die Stomatoden des Victoria-Blattes: Zum hundertsten Geburtstag eines umstrittenen Problems. Planta, 38, 123-131.Die Victoria. (2013, February 26). Botanischer Garten Berlin. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://www.bgbm.org/de/infotainment/die-victoria The leaves emerge from a stipular sheath long and wide or more. Correspondance with William G. D'Arcy, Research Botanist, Missouri Botanic Gardens, St. Louis, Missouri, with sample enclosed. The abaxial leaf surface possesses prominent, reticulate venation. In Victoria amazonica the leaves are glabrous, with long, hard spines and the underside is red. In Victoria cruziana the leaves are fuzzy with soft spines and the underside is purple. The shape of the rims is also different.
Generative characteristics The up to 25 cm wide, nocturnal,Warner, K. A., Rudall, P. J., & Frohlich, M. W. (2008). Differentiation of Perianth Organs in Nymphaeales. Taxon, 57(4), 1096–1109. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27756767 thermogenic, solitary, actinomorphic, chasmogamous, protogynous flowers have prickly pedicels with 4 primary and 8 secondary air canals. The flowers have four prickly, petaloid, 12 cm long, and 7–8 cm wide sepals. The 50-100 petals gradually transition towards the shape of the stamens,Henkel, F., Rehnelt, F., Dittmann, L. (1907). Das Buch der Nymphaeaceen oder Seerosengewächse. pp. 40–44. Deutschland: Henkel. however there is an abrupt change between the innermost petals to the outermost staminodia.Schneider, E. L. (1976). The floral anatomy of Victoria Schomb.(Nymphaeaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 72(2), 115-148. The androeceum consists of 150–200 stamens. The gynoecium consists of 30–44 fused carpels. The 0–15 cm wide, spiny, irregularly dehiscencent fruit bears arillate, glabrous, smooth or granular seeds. Proliferating pseudanthia are absent.
Cytology The ploidy level is 2x and the chromosome count ranges from 2n = 20 to 2n = 24.Pellicer, J., Kelly, L. J., Magdalena, C., & Leitch, I. J. (2013). Insights into the dynamics of genome size and chromosome evolution in the early diverging angiosperm lineage Nymphaeales (water lilies). Genome, 56(8), 437-449.
Taxonomy Victoria was published by Robert Hermann Schomburgk in September 1837.Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-b). Victoria R.H. Schomb. Tropicos. Retrieved November 30, 2024, from http://legacy.tropicos.org/Name/100535949 The type species is Victoria regina The genus has two synonyms, both published within the same year with the same name: Victoria published by John Lindley in October 1837 and Victoria published by John Edward Gray in December 1837. There is, however, disagreement over the correct taxon authority.United States Department of Agriculture & Agricultural Research Service. (n.d.). Victoria Lindl. Germplasm Resource Information Network (GRIN). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomygenus?id=12702 Victoria is seen as correct by several sources, but Victoria is also widely regarded as correct,de Lima, C. T., Machado, I. C., & Giulietti, A. M. (2021). Nymphaeaceae of Brasil. Sitientibus série Ciências Biológicas, 21.Victoria Lindl. (n.d.). WFO Plant List | World Flora Online. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://wfoplantlist.org/taxon/wfo-4000040238-2024-06?page=1 despite being published a month later. Species Image Scientific name Distribution Description Victoria amazonica shallow waters of the Amazon River basin, such as oxbow lakes and bayous 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 scarab beetles. According to Parodi, both V. amazonica and V. cruziana can occasionally produce flowers up to in width. The flower is depicted in the Guyanese coat of arms. Fayaz gives the same maximum width for V. amazonica. Victoria cruziana Parana-Paraguay basin Slightly smaller than V. amazonica, with the underside of the leaves purple rather than the red of V. amazonica, and covered with a peachlike fuzz lacking in V. amazonica. V. cruziana opens its flowers at dusk. Victoria boliviana Bolivia Leaves reaching more than in width, larger seed and ovule size
Evolutionary relationships Together with the genus Euryale, Victoria may be placed within the genus Nymphaea, rendering it paraphyletic in its current circumscription.Song, W., Shi, W., Wang, H., Zhang, Z., Tao, R., Liu, J., ... & Shi, C. (2024). Comparative analysis of 12 water lily plastid genomes reveals genomic divergence and evolutionary relationships in early flowering plants. Marine Life Science & Technology, 6(3), 425-441.Löhne, C., Yoo, M., Borsch, T., Wiersema, J., Wilde, V., Bell, C.D., Barthlott, W., Soltis, D.E. and Soltis, P.S. (2008), Biogeography of Nymphaeales: extant patterns and historical events. Taxon, 57: 1123-19E.He, D., Gichira, A. W., Li, Z., Nzei, J. M., Guo, Y., Wang, Q., & Chen, J. (2018). Intergeneric relationships within the early-diverging angiosperm family Nymphaeaceae based on chloroplast phylogenomics. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(12), 3780.Loehne, C., Borsch, T., & Wiersema, J. H. (2007). Phylogenetic analysis of Nymphaeales using fast-evolving and noncoding chloroplast markers. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 154(2), 141-163.Roestel, J. A., Wiersema, J. H., Jansen, R. K., Borsch, T., & Gruenstaeudl, M. (2024). On the importance of sequence alignment inspections in plastid phylogenomics–an example from revisiting the relationships of the water‐lilies. Cladistics.
Ecology
Habitat It occurs in lakes and streams.Knotts, K. (n.d.). Victoria’s History. Victoria Adventure. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://victoria-adventure.com/victoria/victoria_history.html Pollination Victoria flowers are pollinated by Cyclocephala beetles.M Cramer, J., Meeuse, A. D. J., & Teunissen, P. A. (1975). A note on the pollination of nocturnally flowering species of Nymphaea. Acta Botanica Neerlandica, 24(5/6), 489-490.Seymour, R. S., & Matthews, P. G. (2006). The role of thermogenesis in the pollination biology of the Amazon waterlily Victoria amazonica. Annals of Botany, 98(6), 1129-1135.
Use Horticulture Victoria is a popular ornamental plant. Food The seeds, petioles,Victoria amazonica Giant waterlily. (n.d.). Kew. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://www.kew.org/plants/giant-waterlily and rhizomes are used as food. Other uses Root extracts are used as black dye.
References
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