Water lilies:
After a long break let me start
this blog with water lily because it is the first plant which I remember and
love from my childhood. Its flower is gifted by one of my father’s friend
during their tour. And it is a white water lily. And I am so happy that I am
special for having water lily as the first remembering plant. Not only because
of having good significance in my life history, I am emphasizing it here in my
first post because of its botanical and evolutionary significance. Water lilies
got a huge placement in the hearts of the gardeners and it catches the position
of queen of gardens.
Water lilies are having huge
diversity. Some of the interesting facts about water lilies are as follows,
- The largest water lily is
Victoria amazonica, it is native to the
amazon forest. It’s leaves can hold the weight of a child. The name is given by
John Lindley named after the queen Victoria.
- This
giant water lily has an interesting fact that it is pollinated by scarab
beetle. The water lily usually blooms at dusk as pure white flowers. Due to the
sweet smelling scent it attracts the beetle and the beetle enters the flower
and burrow it and dust the foreign pollen. Next morning it closes and the
beetle is trapped and the waterlily pollen covers its entire body. The next
evening the flower opens for second time and the beetle escapes and searches
for another virgin flower. The fertilized flower shows deep purple hue which won’t
attracts the beetles.
- The
smallest water lily is Nymphaea thermarum is a small lily is now
recovering from the verge of extinction.
- White
Water lily is the national flower of Bangladesh
- Blue
water lily is the national flower
of Sri lanka
- Water
lily is the state flower of Andhra Pradesh,
- The anther shape and
pattern of water lilies is often quoted by botanist as an evolutionary example of
flower development from leaves. The anther resembles the petals of water lilies.
There
is another group called Nymphoides
which is closer relative of water lily. They have similar leaf morphology but
differ only in flower characteristics.
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| Water lily captured at TNAU, Coimbatore |
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| Water lily captured at TNAU Coimbatore |
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| Water lily grown in my garden |
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| Nymphoides cristata captured at Tamiraparani river near Rettai thirupathi |
