H is for........ HUGE!
This is the giant Amazon water lily, the Victoria Amazonica. Under a project headed by the distinguised botanist and researcher, Dr. Francis Ng, we now have our very own giant water lily at the water lily pond on ground floor, Rainforest area of 1-Utama Shopping Centre.
The Giant Amazon Water Lily was discovered growing naturally in hidden ponds and lagoons deep in the forest tributaries of the Amazon River, in Central Brazil in 1801. Its imense leaves are the largest of all known living aquatic plants. In its natural habitat, its leaves exceed 6 ft in diameter and it is so strong that it can support the weight of a well-balanced adult.
The largest water lily in the world, Victoria Amazonica is named after Queen Victoria of England. The flowers, almost 1 ft in diameter, open as pure white blooms in the evenings and releases a strong fragrance to attract the scarab beetles for pollination. It closes and the beetle is trapped in it. It will open again the next evening, setting the beetle free. On the second day, the petals are a deep pink and emits no scent. By night, it would have closed for the last time and the flower will wither off.For more information, I encourage you to visit David Attenbourough's BBC Wildlife on You-tube. It is a very interesting 4 min. documentary about this amazing plant.
Today's post is an entry in ABC Wednesday Round 5, the meme initiated by Denise Nesbitt
For more information and photos, please log on to this site.
This is also my entry for Watery Wednesday #52. To see what others have posted or to participate, click here.
What a beatiful water lily! Great shots og this magnificent water plant!
ReplyDeleteA beautiful flower. Those giantpetal are awesome.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome flower and I enjoyed the information about it that you included in your post! Lovely captures!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Sylvia
Fantastic selection photos, so peaceful.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Guy
Regina In Pictures
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVery serene images! Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteCarletta’s Captures.
I've seen them in a few places here in Singapore and one of them is at the Singapore Zoo!
ReplyDeletewhat a huge waterlily, love the color..
ReplyDeletehuge, and beautiful it is
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteMy ABC & Watery Wednesday
So huge, so beautiful. They sure don't last long though. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteOMG, this is my first time to see this huge water lily and the leaves are equally huge too! My blog template is waterlily because I love the flower!
ReplyDeleteEbie's Watery Outdoors.
It looks huge and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for this...it's absolutely fascinating...
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, that is huge. How beautiful it is.
ReplyDeleteI never seen this.
ReplyDeleteHow big is that flower? 1 meters?
gorgeous! I would so enjoy seeing this flower in presence. Thank you for sharing its beauty!
ReplyDeleteSpirithelpers
In Helsinki, Finland Capital City, is the Botanical Garden in where I have seen this amazing flower !!!! It was my favourite of all flowers. Very beautiful pics you have here and interesting text !!!
ReplyDeleteIf you visit my blog in next 5 months as we have winter so you'll see lot of pics about winter and snow :)
That is so absolutely amazing! And gorgeous too!
ReplyDeleteThat does look huge!! And the flowers are beautiful. I imagine leeches hiding underneath those leaves though, so I'll pass on the swim ...
ReplyDeletefantastic shot of a huge water lilies, love its light pink flowers.
ReplyDeletemy entry http://southbrowneyes.blogspot.com/
They are such amazing plants. We have one too at our Botanical GARDENS. lOVE YOUR PHOTOS WITH THE OPENING FLOWER.
ReplyDeletei have heard of this magnificent plant but have not ever seen one in person. The flower is the first time I have seen in pictures. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete