Nymphaeaceae
Nymphaea
Nymphaea nouchali

Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea (Savigny) Verdc.

First published in Fl. Trop. E. Africa, Nymphaeac.: 7 (1989)
This variety is accepted
The native range of this variety is Egypt to S. Africa, S. Arabian Peninsula, Comoros. It is a rhizomatous hydrogeophyte and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology Leaves
Leaves usually entire or sinuate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals acute to obtuse.
Distribution
S1, 3 widespread in tropical and southern Africa; var. nouchali in India.
Ecology
Altitude range 50–250 m.
Note
Several other varieties distributed in eastern and southern Africa were recognized by Verdcourt in Fl. Trop. E. Afr. (1989).
[FSOM]

Nymphaeaceae, F. A. Mendoça. Flora Zambesiaca 1:1. 1960

Morphology General Habit
Aquatic herb with tuberous rhizome.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 8–35 x 7.5–42 cm., chartaceous, with long petioles, glabrous or densely pubescent, orbicular or subelliptic, incised-cordate, peltate, lobes slightly divergent or somewhat overlapping, acute or caudate, margin ± irregularly sinuate-lobulate or entire towards the apex, upper surface smooth, under surface with conspicuously raised nerves, green or rarely reddish or reddish-purple, primary lateral nerves 8–11 on each side of the midrib, forming elongated closed areas stretching to more than 2/3 of the way to the margin, 6–8 pairs of secondary nerves arising from the midrib.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers blue or pinkish, 8–12 cm. in diam.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals 4, 4–10 x 1.5–3.5 cm., green or purple at the margins.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 14–20, outermost as long as the sepals, oblong, obtuse or subacute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens very numerous, 100–200 or more, densely congested, the outermost with long appendages.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Carpels
Carpels 14–24; style very short.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit 2.2 x 3.2 cm. (in the specimens seen), depressed-globose.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 1.2 mm. long, ellipsoid.
[FZ]

Common Names

English
Blue Lotus of the Nile, Cape Blue Waterlily

Sources

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • '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.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. 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

  • Kew Living Collection Database

    • Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images