Victoria (plant)

Victoria or giant waterlily<ref name="Horton 2022">Template:Cite news</ref> is a genus of aquatic herbs in the plant family Nymphaeaceae.<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /> Its leaves have a remarkable size: Victoria boliviana produces leaves up to Template:Convert in width.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> The genus name was given in honour of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /><ref name = "Knotts & Knotts">Knotts, K., & Knotts, B. (n.d.). Introduction to Victoria. Victoria Adventure. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://victoria-adventure.com/victoria/victoria_intro.html</ref>

Description

File:Victoria Regia by William Sharp, digitally enhanced by rawpixel-com 3.jpg

Underside of Victoria amazonica leaf

File:Victoria Regia by William Sharp, digitally enhanced by rawpixel-com 1.jpg

Illustration of various stages of growth of Victoria amazonica with a young seedling (left) and a more mature plant (right)

File:Victoria Regia. (Analyses) (1851).jpeg

Illustration of Victoria amazonica

Vegetative characteristics

Victoria species are rhizomatous, aquatic,<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /><ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /> short-lived, perennial herbs with tuberous rhizomes bearing contractile<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil">Pellegrini, M.O.O. Nymphaeaceae in Flora e Funga do Brasil. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. Available at: https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/FB24052 consulta.publica.uc.citacao.acesso.em28 Nov. 2024</ref> adventitious roots.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> The floating leaves are peltate and orbicular.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> The margin of the lamina is raised.<ref name = "Henkel et al., 1907" /> The lamina possesses stomatodes (i.e. microscopic perforations).<ref name = "Henkel et al., 1907" /><ref name = "Gessner, 1950">Gessner, F. (1950). Die Stomatoden des Victoria-Blattes: Zum hundertsten Geburtstag eines umstrittenen Problems. Planta, 38, 123-131.</ref><ref name = "BGBM">Die Victoria. (2013, February 26). Botanischer Garten Berlin. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://www.bgbm.org/de/infotainment/die-victoria</ref> The abaxial leaf surface possesses prominent, reticulate venation.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> In Victoria amazonica the leaves are glaberous, with long, hard spines and the underside is red. In Victoria cruziana the leaves are fuzzy with soft spines and the underside is purple. The shape of the rims is also different.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Generative characteristics

The up to 25 cm wide, nocturnal,<ref name = "Warner et al., 2008">Warner, K. A., Rudall, P. J., & Frohlich, M. W. (2008). Differentiation of Perianth Organs in Nymphaeales. Taxon, 57(4), 1096–1109. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27756767</ref> thermogenic,<ref name = "Seymour & Matthews, 2006" /> solitary,<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> actinomorphic, chasmogamous, protogynous flowers<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /> have prickly pedicels with 4 primary and 8 secondary air canals.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> The flowers have four<ref name = "Schneider, 1976" /><ref name = "Henkel et al., 1907" /><ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> prickly, petaloid, 12 cm long, and 7–8 cm wide sepals.<ref name = "Schneider, 1976" /> The 50-100 petals<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /> gradually transition towards the shape of the stamens,<ref name = "Henkel et al., 1907">Henkel, F., Rehnelt, F., Dittmann, L. (1907). Das Buch der Nymphaeaceen oder Seerosengewächse. pp. 40–44. Deutschland: Henkel.</ref> however there is an abrupt change between the innermost petals to the outermost staminodia.<ref name = "Schneider, 1976">Schneider, E. L. (1976). The floral anatomy of Victoria Schomb.(Nymphaeaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 72(2), 115-148.</ref><ref name = "Warner et al., 2008" /> The androeceum consists of 150–200 stamens.<ref name = "Schneider, 1976" /><ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /> The gynoecium consists of 30–44<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /> fused carpels.<ref name = "Schneider, 1976" /> The 0–15 cm wide,<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> spiny,<ref name = "Schneider, 1976" /> irregularly dehiscencent fruit<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /><ref name = "Schneider, 1976" /> bears arillate,<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /><ref name = "Schneider, 1976" /> glabrous, smooth or granular seeds.<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /> Proliferating pseudanthia are absent.<ref name = "de Lima et al., 2021" />

Cytology

The ploidy level is 2x and the chromosome count ranges from 2n = 20 to 2n = 24.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /><ref name = "Pellicer et al., 2013">Pellicer, J., Kelly, L. J., Magdalena, C., & Leitch, I. J. (2013). Insights into the dynamics of genome size and chromosome evolution in the early diverging angiosperm lineage Nymphaeales (water lilies). Genome, 56(8), 437-449.</ref>

Taxonomy

Victoria Template:Small was published by Robert Hermann Schomburgk in September 1837.<ref name = "Tropicos">Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-b). Victoria R.H. Schomb. Tropicos. Retrieved November 30, 2024, from http://legacy.tropicos.org/Name/100535949</ref><ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> The type species is Victoria regina Template:Small<ref name = "IPNI a" /> The genus has two synonyms, both published within the same year with the same name: Victoria Template:Small published by John Lindley in October 1837 and Victoria Template:Small published by John Edward Gray in December 1837.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> There is, however, disagreement over the correct taxon authority.<ref name = "GRIN">United States Department of Agriculture & Agricultural Research Service. (n.d.). Victoria Lindl. Germplasm Resource Information Network (GRIN). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomygenus?id=12702</ref> Victoria Template:Small is seen as correct by several sources,<ref name = "Schneider, 1976" /><ref name = "POWO" /><ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /> but Victoria Template:Small is also widely regarded as correct,<ref name = "de Lima et al., 2021">de Lima, C. T., Machado, I. C., & Giulietti, A. M. (2021). Nymphaeaceae of Brasil. Sitientibus série Ciências Biológicas, 21.</ref><ref name = "GRIN" /><ref name = "WFO">Victoria Lindl. (n.d.). WFO Plant List | World Flora Online. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://wfoplantlist.org/taxon/wfo-4000040238-2024-06?page=1</ref><ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /> despite being published a month later.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" />

Species

Image	Scientific name	Distribution	Description
File:Victoria amazonica edit 1.jpg	Victoria amazonica Template:Small	shallow waters of the Amazon River basin, such as oxbow lakes and bayous	The flowers are white the first night they are open and become pink the second night. They are up to 40 cm in diameter, and are pollinated by scarab beetles. According to Parodi, both V. amazonica and V. cruziana can occasionally produce flowers up to Template:Convert in width. The flower is depicted in the Guyanese coat of arms.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Fayaz gives the same maximum width for V. amazonica.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
File:Victoria cruziana flower.jpg	Victoria cruziana Template:Small	Parana-Paraguay basin	Slightly smaller than V. amazonica, with the underside of the leaves purple rather than the red of V. amazonica, and covered with a peachlike fuzz lacking in V. amazonica. V. cruziana opens its flowers at dusk.
File:Kew Gardens, Princess of Wales Conservatory, Victoria boliviana flower.jpg	Victoria boliviana Template:Small<ref name="Smith et al., 2022">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Morelle 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> ||Bolivia || Leaves reaching more than Template:Convert in width, larger seed and ovule size

File:Woman standing on Victoria cruziana.jpeg

A woman standing on a leaf of Victoria cruziana in the lily pond in front of the Linnaean House of the Missouri Botanical Garden. A wooden plank and a towel is placed on the pad to distribute the weight over the leaf's surface.

Evolutionary relationships

Together with the genus Euryale, Victoria may be placed within the genus Nymphaea, rendering it paraphyletic in its current circumscription.<ref name = "Song et al., 2024">Song, W., Shi, W., Wang, H., Zhang, Z., Tao, R., Liu, J., ... & Shi, C. (2024). Comparative analysis of 12 water lily plastid genomes reveals genomic divergence and evolutionary relationships in early flowering plants. Marine Life Science & Technology, 6(3), 425-441.</ref><ref name = "Löhne et al., 2008">Löhne, C., Yoo, M., Borsch, T., Wiersema, J., Wilde, V., Bell, C.D., Barthlott, W., Soltis, D.E. and Soltis, P.S. (2008), Biogeography of Nymphaeales: extant patterns and historical events. Taxon, 57: 1123-19E.</ref><ref name = "He et al., 2018">He, D., Gichira, A. W., Li, Z., Nzei, J. M., Guo, Y., Wang, Q., & Chen, J. (2018). Intergeneric relationships within the early-diverging angiosperm family Nymphaeaceae based on chloroplast phylogenomics. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(12), 3780.</ref><ref name = "Loehne et al., 2007">Loehne, C., Borsch, T., & Wiersema, J. H. (2007). Phylogenetic analysis of Nymphaeales using fast-evolving and noncoding chloroplast markers. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 154(2), 141-163.</ref><ref name = "Roestel et al., 2024">Roestel, J. A., Wiersema, J. H., Jansen, R. K., Borsch, T., & Gruenstaeudl, M. (2024). On the importance of sequence alignment inspections in plastid phylogenomics–an example from revisiting the relationships of the water‐lilies. Cladistics.</ref>

Ecology

File:Victoria Amazonia Giant water lilies near Manaus, Brazil.jpg

Victoria amazonica in its natural habitat near Manaus, Brazil

Habitat

It occurs in lakes and streams.<ref name = "Knotts">Knotts, K. (n.d.). Victoria’s History. Victoria Adventure. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://victoria-adventure.com/victoria/victoria_history.html</ref>

Pollination

Victoria flowers are pollinated by Cyclocephala beetles.<ref name = "Cramer et al., 1975">M Cramer, J., Meeuse, A. D. J., & Teunissen, P. A. (1975). A note on the pollination of nocturnally flowering species of Nymphaea. Acta Botanica Neerlandica, 24(5/6), 489-490.</ref><ref name = "Seymour & Matthews, 2006">Seymour, R. S., & Matthews, P. G. (2006). The role of thermogenesis in the pollination biology of the Amazon waterlily Victoria amazonica. Annals of Botany, 98(6), 1129-1135.</ref>

Use

Horticulture

Victoria is a popular ornamental plant.<ref name = "Kew" />

Food

The seeds, petioles,<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" /><ref name = "Kew">Victoria amazonica Giant waterlily. (n.d.). Kew. Retrieved November 28, 2024, from https://www.kew.org/plants/giant-waterlily</ref> and rhizomes are used as food.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" />

Other uses

Root extracts are used as black dye.<ref name="Smith et al., 2022" />