Scientists discover new giant water lily species

There is a new species of giant water lilies that has been hidden for over 170 years.

The huge plant was in the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, but it was mistakenly identified as another species.

The study shows that it is new to science.

The world's largest waterlily has leaves that grow more than 10 feet in diameter.

Victoria boliviana is a plant found in a single water basin in part of the Amazon river system.

Image source, Lucy Smith

One of the world's leading water lilies experts thought the plant was different from the other two giants.

He collected some seeds and brought them back to the UK.

It allowed us to grow it side-by-side with the two other species. We were able to see that every part of the plant was completely different.

The find was the highlight of his career, according to him.

Image source, Lucy Smith

Lucy Smith worked with Carlos to make detailed drawings of the three species.

It was necessary to go into the glasshouse at night because the water lilies only show up in the dark.

She said that she was able to see the differences between the flowers and leaves.

I found new ways of telling them apart while drawing those differences.

She thinks the new species has one of the prettiest flowers.

Image source, RBG Kew

The Waterlily House was built in the 19th century to showcase the collection.

The giants were discovered in the 1800's and were named after Queen Victoria.

Scientists say there is still a lot to learn about water lilies, despite the new discovery.

The three species have not been studied very thoroughly.

We don't know how many people there are and how large they are. We don't know a lot about pollination. We don't know how the species is dispersed.

There are many unanswered questions. People haven't thought of studying them in that much detail because they are so obvious.

Image source, Carlos Magdelena

There is a description of the plant in the journal.

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