Newly identified species is the world’s largest known giant water lily

Carissa Wong is a person.

The largest of its kind, the water lily has flowers that are larger than a human head and pads that are up to three metres wide.

Natalia Przelomska, who co-led the work with Oscar A. PérezEscobar, says that the lilies could take the weight of a young child. The leaves can hold the weight of an adult. It would have to be supported to distribute their weight on the lily pad. We did not test it.

There are three known species of giant water lilies.

The Santa Cruz de La Sierra Botanic Garden donated a collection of giant water lily seeds. The seeds that Carlos grew were different from the two known species of water lilies. He went to visit the water lilies in the wild.

There are freshwater rivers, floodplains and ponds in the north-eastern part of the country. Studies show that the large size of water lilies may help them compete with other plants for sunlight.

When an aquatic area opens up, the water lilies can thrive there because they grow really quickly and capture so much of the sunlight, and out compete other plants.

The genomes of the two other giant water lilies are smaller than that of V. boliviana. There are over four billion base pairs.

The biggest water lilies have the largest genomes and we want to understand why.

About 5 million years ago, the common ancestors of V. cruziana and V. boliviana split from V. Amazonica.

Read more: ‘Plant messiah’ dodges crocodiles to save rare water lilies

V. boliviana is at greater risk of extinction than the other two species due to its smaller geographical range. The three species are at increased risk of being cut down.

The environment has degraded so much that V. bolivana is at risk.

There is a journal reference in the field of plant science.

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