Victoria amazonica (Poepp.) Klotzsch

First published in Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 5: 245 (1847)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is SE. Colombia to N. & E. Bolivia and Guyana. It is a rhizomatous hydrogeophyte and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome. It is has environmental uses and for food.

Descriptions

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution
Nativa en Colombia; Alt. 180 - 360 m.; Amazonia.
Morphology General Habit
Hierba, acuática
Conservation
No Evaluada
[CPLC]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
victoria regia
[UNAL]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Kew Species Profiles

General Description

Queen of the water lilies, this Amazonian giant has a remarkable life cycle. Victoria amazonica is well known for its huge circular leaves, which are often pictured with a small child sitting supported in the centre as a demonstration of their size and strength. The species is highly prized as an ornamental, despite having somewhat particular requirements for successful cultivation.

Species Profile
Geography and distribution

Native to tropical South America, Victoria amazonica was first discovered in Bolivia in 1801 and named Eurgale amazonica . It was subsequently moved to a new genus named in honour of Queen Victoria (originally as Victoria regia ). In South America it grows in the backwaters of rivers in the Amazon basin, the Guianas and the Pantanal.

Description

Leaves: The enormous circular leaves, which grow to over 2.5 m across, have upturned rims and are anchored by long stalks arising from an underground stem buried in the mud of the river bottom. The leaves first appear as spiny heads but expand rapidly up to half a square metre per day. The upper surface has a rather quilted appearance and a waxy layer that repels water. The purplish red undersurface has a network of ribs clad in abundant sharp spines, possibly a defence against herbivorous fishes and manatees.

Air trapped in the spaces between the ribs enables the leaves to float. They are so buoyant that they can easily support the weight of a small child, and a mature leaf can support 45 kg if the load is evenly distributed. In a single season, each plant produces some 40 to 50 leaves, which cover the water surface and exclude light, thus restricting the growth of most other plants.

Flowers: The spectacular flowers are relatively short-lived, lasting only 48 hours or so. The flower is white the first evening it opens, attracting beetles with a sweet pineapple-like scent and with heat from a thermochemical reaction. At this stage the flower is female, and is open to receiving pollen picked up by the beetles on other plants. As they bumble around inside the flower they transfer pollen to the stigmas and fertilisation takes place. Meanwhile the flower shuts, trapping them until the next evening.

During the following day the plant changes from female to male: the anthers mature and start producing pollen. When the flower reopens on the second evening it has changed colour to purplish red and no longer emits attractive scent or heat. The beetles, dusted with their pollen, fly off to find another white flower on a different plant (each plant only ever has one white flower at a time), where the process is repeated. The flower then closes up and sinks below the surface of the water, its mission accomplished.

Threats and conservation

Although not currently thought to be threatened, this plant lives in a highly specialised habitat. Climate change predictions for the Amazon basin are severe, and rainforest destruction, with consequent impacts on water quality and flow, may pose a significant threat in the future.

Uses

It is said that the complex 'architectural' pattern of the vein structure below the leaves provided the inspiration for Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace design in 1851, for the Great Exhibition in London. However, Victoria amazonica is most valued as an ornamental plant, for which it has been highly prized ever since its discovery.

The seeds of this species can be roasted and eaten.

Cultivation

In the wild the giant waterlily is a short-lived perennial, but at Kew it is raised as an annual from seed planted each January.

In summer the flowers are hand-pollinated and then placed in a bag. This enables easy collection of the resulting seed, in the autumn. The seeds must be kept moist, preferably in water, all the time. To prevent premature germination, or death, they are kept at a constant temperature of 15 °C. In order to begin germination it is sometimes necessary to nick the seed with a scalpel, after which germination occurs in ten days. In January the newly germinated seed is pricked out into a tiny pot which is kept in water. As the plant grows, potting on into larger pots is carried out until the plant occupies a one ton pot. Loam is used as a substrate, the key factors for this choice being that it does not float, it is rich in nutrients and it has the capacity to enclose the fertiliser that is contained in the 'feed bombs' given to the plant.

Carlos Magdalena, who cultivates this species at Kew, notes that temperature and light are crucial. The seedlings are raised at 32 °C and the juvenile and adult plants are grown on at 26 to 32 °C. In the winter, supplementary lighting must be provided for the seedlings. A 400 watt horticultural supplementary bulb is used to give bright light for 12 hours. The brighter and longer the exposure to light, the better and faster the plant grows. Eventually, in autumn, it is the lack of light that finally causes the plant to die.

Pests and diseases are kept at bay with the provision of plenty of rich fertiliser, but aphids can be a problem.

If the plant becomes pot-bound, the crown tends to lift until it is raised out of the water. To counter this, the 'chop and drop' technique can be used whereby the crown is cut and planted in a new pot. Alternatively the pot can be placed deeper in the water. The general rule is: the larger the pot, the larger and healthier the plant.

General maintenance includes weekly feeding throughout the season using 'feed bombs' and prompt removal of decaying leaves. The pot in which the plant is growing is kept submerged in water at all times.

Giant waterlily at Kew

Plants are grown in the Tropical Nursery, which is one of the behind-the-scenes areas of Kew. In March or April, when the plants have 5 or 6 leaves, the best specimens are moved out, so during the summer months you may be fortunate to see them growing in the Princess of Wales Conservatory and/or the Waterlily House.

The species normally grown at Kew are Victoria amazonica and V.cruziana , and their hybrid, V.'Longwood'. The giant waterlily that is seasonally on display in the Princess of Wales Conservatory is normally V.'Longwood'. In 1995 the leaves reached record-breaking dimensions when they grew to over 2.5 m in diameter and were registered in the Guinness Book of Records. V.cruziana is normally grown in the Waterlily House.

Kew also raises juvenile Victoria plants to donate to other institutions that do not have facilities to raise them from seed.

Distribution
Bolivia
Ecology
Lakes and backwaters of the Amazon River.
Conservation
Not known to be threatened.
Hazards

None known.

[KSP]

Distribution
Biogeografic region: Amazonia. Elevation range: 180–360 m a.s.l. Native to Colombia. Colombian departments: Amazonas.
Habit
Herb, Aquatic.
Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: forest and woodland, wetlands (inland), artificial - terrestrial.
Vernacular
Victoria regia
[UPFC]

Frontiers in Plant Science

Morphology Leaves
Leaves up to 2.3 m broad, adaxial surface of lamina green, occasionally tinged bronze in younger leaves; abaxial surface of lamina maroon or green, radial and reticulate ribs maroon, yellow or green; leaf margins form a low to moderate rim c. 4–7% of the lamina length (higher in crowded habitats), rim curved at its base then ± perpendicular to adaxial surface, abaxial surface of rim maroon or green; hairs 0.3–12 mm, simple, multicellular, 3–12 segmented
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers up to 28 cm in diameter at second-night anthesis Flower at first night of anthesis, inner tepals white, with innermost tepals dark maroon, outer staminodia tipped pink; second night anthesis, innermost tepals dark maroon, inner tepals remaining white or pink to dark pink or red, darkest at base, outer staminodia remaining white or dark pink for basal two thirds of their length, tipped pink, inner staminodia pink at base
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary 8–12 cm diameter, outer surface covered in prickles 1– 18 mm (dried), prickles gradually tapering to a sharp point, hairs absent or present, where present simple, 0.1–0.4 mm, inner surface of ovary with deeply concave stigmatic surface, rounded to triangular in longitudinal profile, ridged with lines corresponding with 25–36 radially arranged locules, each containing 25–28 ovules, 1–1.5 mm diameter (fresh)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Tepal
Outer tepals 4.9–12 × 4–8 cm when fresh; abaxial surface predominantly brown/maroon, bearing 55–330 prickles per tepal, prickles tapering gradually to a sharp point, ranging from 1–14 mm (dried), spaced regularly, irregularly, or clustering more densely toward the base over entire surface, hairs absent or present on abaxial surface, where present 0.1–0.2 mm Inner tepals 7–15 × 2–6 cm (fresh), innermost deep maroon in bud; all others remaining white or turning pink to dark pink at second-night anthesis; outer staminodia > 25, 5–6 × 1–1.5 cm thick, rigid, apiculate; stamens 2–4 × 0.5–1 cm; inner staminodia, 4–6 × 0.5–1 cm; base of lower parts of carpellary appendage auriculate/rounded in shape and hanging free from extension of stigmatic surface, length of upper parts not exceeding that of lower parts
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 600–1000 per fruit, 7–8 × 9–10 mm, ellipsoid, green to brown, raphe faintly visible.
Distribution
Victoria amazonica is restricted to the Amazon river basin, from Northern Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Guyana and Peru.
Conservation
Its EOO is estimated to be 2,640,795 km2, exceeding the threshold for an IUCN threat category under criterion B, whilst its AOO is estimated as 476 km2, falling into the Endangered category. We believe that our calculation of the AOO is likely an underestimate, resulting from difficulties in observing the species in the field and under-representation of the genus in biological collections. There are more than 10 locations for which threats have been assessed, but there is not the information on population fragmentation or fluctuation available in order to be able to assess the ‘severely fragmented’ and ‘extreme fluctuations’ subcriteria. A continuing decline in habitat quality is inferred due to the presence of hydroelectric dams, mining, and deforestation of the river systems from where V. amazonica is documented. For example, in Peru, localities along the Marañón river to the headwaters of the Amazon and the Ucayali river have been heavily deforested by gold mining (i-Terra, 2021). Gold mining is associated with profound mercury contamination of rivers and aquatic species (USGS Environmental Health Program, 2019) and increases in Peruvian mercury imports suggest that contamination must be increasing (Swenson et al., 2011). In Brazil, as in Bolivia there have also been reports of mining activities in indigenous lands adjacent to several Victoria populations (Hutukara Associação Yanomami and Associação Wanasseduume Ye’kwana, 2020; INPE, 2021; MapBiomas, 2021; Mercado, 2021). Victoria amazonica is here assessed as Least Concern (LC) considering that its range stretches across Amazonia and currently exceeds the parameters for a threatened category under criterion B. We note, however, a moderate number of locations where populations are under threat and there is a continuing decline in habitat quality. Further investigation and surveys are needed to better understand trends in population size, fragmentation, distribution and the impact of climate change.
Recognition
Victoria amazonica is the only species whose leaves do not always form an upturned rim, and when they do, it is usually low and vertical in profile rather than recurving over the flat part of the lamina. Its flowers are distinguished from V. cruziana and V. boliviana both in bud and on first-night opening, as the innermost tepals are dark maroon rather than white. Carpellary appendages are curved at the base of the lower part and hang freely away from the attachment point. The prickles covering both outer tepal abaxial surface and outer ovary are uniquely gradually tapering to a sharp point (not abruptly tapering as in other species), and always cover the entire abaxial surface of the outer tepals. Its seeds are ellipsoid rather than globose.
[FPS]

Uses

Use
Ornamental.
[KSP]

Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Materials
Used as material.
[UPFC]

Common Names

English
Giant Water Lily, Giant waterlily

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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    • Front Plant Sci.
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
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    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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    • Copyright applied to individual images
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    • Kew Species Profiles
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0