Editing Nymphaea (section)

==Description==
[[File:Nymphaea_leaf_cross-section.jpg|thumb|A [[bright-field microscopy|bright-field]] [[micrograph]] of a cross-section of a floating leaf of ''[[Nymphaea alba]]''.<br/>{{hlist|E1: upper epiderm |E2: lower epiderm |P: palisade mesophyll |M: spongy mesophyll |B: vascular bundle |I: intercellular gap |S: sclerenchyma}}]]
[[File:Nymphaea cf. gardneriana Planch.jpg|thumb|right|Complete specimen of [[Nymphaea gardneriana|''Nymphaea'' cf. ''gardneriana'']] Planch. with several floating leaves, as well as submerged leaves with scale bar (50 cm) on a white background]]
[[File:Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea (Savigny) Verdc. complete specimen.jpg|thumb|Complete specimen of [[Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea|''Nymphaea nouchali'' var. ''caerulea'']] (Savigny) Verdc. with scale bar (50 cm) on a white background]]
[[File:Rhizome of Nymphaea gigantea "Albert De Lestang".jpg|thumb|right|Rhizome of ''[[Nymphaea gigantea]]'' "Albert De Lestang" with scale bar (5 cm) against a grey background]]
[[File:Nymphaea alba sl72.jpg|thumb|right|Seeds of ''[[Nymphaea alba]]'' with scale bar (3 mm) against a grey background]]
[[File:Nymphaea alba sl71.jpg|thumb|right|Halved ''Nymphaea alba'' fruit with scale bar (20 mm) against a dark background]]
[[File:Nymphaea alba sl58.jpg|thumb|right|Longitudinal section of ''Nymphaea alba'' flower with scale bar (20 mm) against a dark background<br/>'''S''' = sepals, '''P''' = petals, '''St''' = stamina, '''An''' = anthers, '''O''' = ovary, '''SD''' = stigma disc, '''CT''' = carpellary teeth]]
[[File:Nymphaea prolifera Wiersema proliferating pseudanthium.jpg|thumb|Proliferating pseudanthium or tubiferous flower of ''[[Nymphaea prolifera]]'' Wiersema]]
[[File:Nymphaea lotus var. thermalis (DC.) Tuzson leaf.jpg|thumb|right|''Nymphaea lotus'' leaf with scale bar (5 cm)<br/>Upper surface (left) and lower surface (right)]]

===Vegetative characteristics===
Water lilies are aquatic, rhizomatous or tuberous, perennial or annual herbs<ref name = "Florabase">{{FloraBase|name= ''Nymphaea'' L. |id=21429}}</ref> with sometimes desiccation-tolerant,<ref name="Heslop-Harrison, 1955" /> branched or unbranched rhizomes,<ref name = "Flora of China"> {{efloras|2|122531|''Nymphaea'' Linnaeus.}}</ref><ref name=fna/> which can be [[stolon]]iferous, or lacking stolons.<ref name=fna/> The tuberous or fibrous roots are contractile.<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil">{{cite web |last=Pellegrini |first=M.O.O. |title=Nymphaeaceae |website=Flora e Funga do Brasil |publisher=Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro |url=https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/FB10936 |accessdate=27 Nov 2024}}</ref> The leaves are mostly floating,<ref name=fna/><ref name = "Flora of China" /><ref name = "VicFlora">{{cite web |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |title=''Nymphaea'' |website=VicFlora Flora of Victoria. |accessdate=November 26, 2024 |url= https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/cb56044c-3244-4b72-ad90-e9db471241b2}}</ref> but submerged and emergent leaves occur as well.<ref name="Conard, 1905">{{Cite book |last1=Conard |first1=Henry S. |last2=Conard |first2=Henry S. |date=1905 |title=The waterlilies: a monograph of the genus Nymphaea |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108991 |publisher=the Carnegie Institution of Washington}}</ref> The shape of the lamina can be ovate, orbicular,<ref name = "VicFlora" /><ref name = "Flora of Pakistan">{{efloras|5|122531|''Nymphaea'' L.}}</ref> elliptic,<ref name=fna/> hastate,<ref name = "Flora of Australia" /> or sagittate.<ref name="Trickett, 1971">{{Cite journal |last=Trickett |first=Robert S. |date=1971 |title=A New Tropical American Waterlily, ''Nymphaea belophylla'' |jstor=4117321 |journal=Kew Bulletin |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=29–31 |doi=10.2307/4117321 |bibcode=1971KewBu..26...29T |issn=0075-5974}}</ref> The width of the lamina ranges in size from 2.5–3&nbsp;cm<ref name="Fischer, 1988">{{Cite journal |last=Fischer |first=Eberhard |date=1988 |title=Beiträge zur Flora Zentralafrikas. I. Eine neue Nymphaea sowie ein neuer Streptocarpus aus Rwanda |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1522-239X.1988.tb00351.x |journal=Feddes Repertorium |language=de |volume=99 |issue=9–10 |pages=385–390 |doi=10.1002/j.1522-239X.1988.tb00351.x |issn=1522-239X}}</ref> to 40–60&nbsp;cm.<ref name="Conard, 1905" /> The lamina has a deep [[Sinus (botany)|sinus]]<ref name = "Flora of Australia" /><ref name="Conard, 1905" /><ref name = "VicFlora" /> and the basal lobes can be overlapping or divergent.<ref name=fna/> The margin of the lamina can be entire, dentate,<ref name = "Flora of China" /> or sinuate.<ref name = "Flora of Australia">{{cite book|first1=S.W.L. |last1=Jacobs |first2=C.L. |last2=Porter. |chapter=''Nymphaea'' |title=Flora of Australia |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water |location=Canberra |chapter-url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Nymphaea |accessdate= 27 November 2024 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240816230746/https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Nymphaea |archive-date=2024-08-16}}</ref> The leaves can be [[stipule|stipulate]],<ref name="Conard, 1905" /><ref name = "Florabase" /> or exstipulate.<ref name = "Florabase" /> The petioles are a few centimetres to 5–6 m long, and 0.3–1.9&nbsp;cm wide.<ref name="Conard, 1905" />

===Generative characteristics===
The flowers are emergent, floating,<ref name=fna/> or rarely submerged.<ref name="Landon et al., 2006">{{Cite journal |last1=Landon |first1=Kenneth |last2=Edwards |first2=Richard A. |last3=Nozaic |first3=P. Ivan |date=2006 |title=A New Species of Waterlily (nymphaea Minuta: Nymphaeaceae) from Madagascar |url=http://aquaria.palo-alto.ca.us/plants/n/Nymphaea/minuta/Nympaeae_minutae.pdf |journal=SIDA, Contributions to Botany |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=887–893 |issn=0036-1488 |jstor=41969055}}</ref> The diurnal or nocturnal,<ref name=fna/> [[Chasmogamy|chasmogamous]] or rarely [[Cleistogamy|cleistogamous]],<ref name = "Flora e Funga do Brasil" /> solitary, hermaphrodite, entomophilous,<ref name = "Florabase" /> fragrant or inodorous flowers<ref name="Wiersema, 1988">{{Cite journal |last=Wiersema |first=John H. |date=1988 |title=Reproductive Biology of ''Nymphaea'' (Nymphaeaceae) |journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=795–804 |doi=10.2307/2399367 |issn=0026-6493 |jstor=2399367|bibcode=1988AnMBG..75..795W |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/35833 }}</ref> are mostly [[protogynous]].<ref name="Wiersema, 1988" /> The flowers have (3–)4(–5)<ref name = "Florabase" /> green, sometimes spotted sepals,<ref name = "Flora of Australia" /> and about 6–50<ref name = "Florabase" /> lanceolate to spathulate, differently coloured petals,<ref name = "Flora of Australia" /> which are often gradually transitioning into the shape of the stamens.<ref name = "Flora of Pakistan" /><ref name = "Flora of China" /><ref name=fna/> The gap between petals and stamens can be present or absent.<ref name = "Flora of Australia" /> The androecium consists of 20–750 stamens.<ref name = "Florabase" /> The stamens can be petaloid<ref name = "Flora of Pakistan" /> or not petal-like.<ref name=jeps /> The gynoecium consists of 5–35 carpels.<ref name = "Florabase" /> The carpels usually possess a sterile appendage.<ref name = "Flora of Pakistan" /> The globose,<ref name = "Flora of Australia" /> fleshy, spongy, irregularly dehiscent fruit,<ref name = "Florabase" /> borne on a terete, glabrous or pubescent,<ref name="Conard, 1905" /> curved or coiled peduncle,<ref name=fna/> bears arillate,<ref name = "Flora of Australia" /><ref name=jeps /> globose to elliptic,<ref name=jeps /> hairy or glabrous seeds<ref name = "Flora of Australia" /> with a smooth surface or longitudinal ridges.<ref name = "Flora of China" /> Proliferating pseudanthia or tuberous flowers (i.e., sterile, branching, proliferating floral structures for vegetative propagation<ref name="Grob et al., 2006">{{Cite journal |last1=Grob |first1=Valentin |last2=Moline |first2=Philip |last3=Pfeifer |first3=Evelin |last4=Novelo |first4=Alejandro R. |last5=Rutishauser |first5=Rolf |date=2006-11-01 |title=Developmental morphology of branching flowers in Nymphaea prolifera |url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/156395/1/ZORA_NL_156395.pdf |journal=Journal of Plant Research |language=en |volume=119 |issue=6 |pages=561–570 |doi=10.1007/s10265-006-0021-8 |pmid=17021936 |bibcode=2006JPlR..119..561G |issn=1618-0860}}</ref>) can be present or absent.<ref name="de Lima et al., 2021">{{Cite journal |last1=Carla Teixeira de Lima |last2=Machado |first2=Isabel Cristina |last3=Giulietti |first3=Ana Maria |date=2021-03-03 |title=Nymphaeaceae of Brasil |url=http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sitientibusBiologia/article/view/4986 |journal=SITIENTIBUS série Ciências Biológicas |language=pt |volume=21 |issn=2238-4103 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240221070548/https://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sitientibusBiologia/article/view/4986 |archive-date=2024-02-21}}</ref><ref name="Wiersema, 1987">{{Cite journal |last=Wiersema |first=John H. |date=1987 |title=A Monograph of ''Nymphaea'' Subgenus ''Hydrocallis'' (Nymphaeaceae) |jstor=25027681 |journal=Systematic Botany Monographs |volume=16 |pages=1–112 |doi=10.2307/25027681 |issn=0737-8211}}</ref>