''Nymphaea conardii'' is a species of waterlily native to the region spanning from Southern Mexico to tropical South America.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

''Nymphaea conardii'' is an aquatic herb with ovoid, 4.5 cm wide rhizomes.Velásquez, J. (1994).
"Plantas acuáticas vasculares de Venezuela."
p. 102. Venezuela: Universidad Central de Venezuela, Consejo de Desarrollo Científico y Humanistico. The ovate-elliptical leaf blade is uniformly green, and it can reach up to 18 cm in length and 14 cm in width. The leaf venation is reticulate and dichotomous, with 9-15 primary veins. The leaf blade is attached to glabrous, max. 4 mm wide petioles with 2-4 primary and 4-6 secondary air canals.

Generative characteristics

The nocturnal flowers float on the water surface. The flowers have glabrous, non-brittle green peduncles with 5-6 primary, central air canals and 10-12 secondary, smaller, peripheral canals.de Lima, C. T., Machado, I. C., & Giulietti, A. M. (2021)
"Nymphaeaceae of Brasil."
Sitientibus série Ciências Biológicas, 21. The flowers have uniformly green, 3-6 cm long and 1-3 cm wide, oblong-ovate sepals with an slightly rounded or acute apex. The fruits are 1.5-1.7 cm long and 2.5-2.9 cm wide. The granulose, pilose, ellipsoid seeds have trichomes arranged in interrupted, longitudinal lines.Pellegrini, M. O. O. & Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. (n.d.). ''Nymphaea conardii'' Wiersema. Flora E Funga Do Brasil. Retrieved December 15, 2023, from https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/FB10940 The trichomes are 10–60 μm long.Bonilla-Barbosa, J., Novelo, A., Orozco, Y. H., & Márquez-Guzmán, J. (2000)
"Comparative seed morphology of Mexican ''Nymphaea'' species."
Aquatic Botany, 68(3), 189-204.

Cytology

The diploid chromosome count is 2n = 28.Wiersema, J. H. (1987). A Monograph of ''Nymphaea'' Subgenus ''Hydrocallis'' (Nymphaeaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs, 16, 1–112. https://doi.org/10.2307/25027681

Reproduction

Vegetative reproduction

It is stoloniferous, but only in a brief period in which the tubers resume growth. Proliferating pseudanthia are absent.

Generative reproduction

Autogamy is possible, as the stigma retains its female function in the second day, when the pollen is released, thus enabling self-fertilization.Wiersema, J. H. (1988). Reproductive Biology of ''Nymphaea'' (Nymphaeaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 75(3), 795–804. https://doi.org/10.2307/2399367 The seed dispersal is hydrochorous (i.e. water-dispersed) or ornithochorous (i.e. bird-dispersed).Madriñán, S., Rial, A., Bedoya, A. M., Fernández, M. (2017).
"Plantas acuáticas de la Orinoquia colombiana."
p. 28. Kolumbien: Universidad de los Andes.

Taxonomy

Publication

It was first described by Wiersema in 1984.

Type specimen

The type specimen was collected on the 29th of August 1981 by J.H. Wiersema and A. Gonzalez from a pond in the Sosa Municipality of Barinas, Venezuela.''Nymphaea conardii'' , International Plant Names Index. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2023, from https://www.ipni.org/n/281432-2

Placement within ''Nymphaea''

It is placed in ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Hydrocallis''.Wiersema, J. H. (1984). Systematics of ''Nymphaea'' subgenus ''Hydrocallis'' (Nymphaeaceae). I. Four New Species from the Neotropics. Brittonia, 36(3), 213–222. https://doi.org/10.2307/2806510 It is closely related to '' Nymphaea gardneriana'', '' Nymphaea glandulifera'', and '' Nymphaea jamesoniana''.Borsch, T., Hilu, K. W., Wiersema, J. H., Löhne, C., Barthlott, W., & Wilde, V. (2007). Phylogeny of ''Nymphaea'' (Nymphaeaceae): Evidence from Substitutions and Microstructural Changes in the Chloroplast trnT‐trnF Region. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 168(5), 639–671. https://doi.org/10.1086/513476

Etymology

The specific epithet ''conardii'' honours the botanist

Henry Shoemaker Conard Henry Shoemaker Conard (1874 - 1971) was a leading authority on bryophytes and water lilies, as well as an early advocate of environmental preservation. From 1906 to 1955, Professor Conard worked at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.Welch and LeB ...

(1874 - 1971).

Conservation

''Nymphaea conardii'' is considered to be vulnerable (VU) in Cuba.Urquiola Cruz, A. J., González-Oliva, L., Novo Carbó, R. (2010).
"Libro rojo de la flora vascular de la provincia Pinar del Río."
p. 447. Spanien: Universidad de Alicante.

Ecology

Habitat

It inhabits flooded savannas, shallow lagoons, and Morichales associated with still water (i.e. wetlands characterized by the presence of the moriche palm ''

Mauritia flexuosa ''Mauritia flexuosa'', known as the moriche palm, ''ité'' palm, ''ita'', ''buriti'', ''muriti'', ''miriti'' (Brazil), ''canangucho'' (Colombia), ''morete or acho'' (Ecuador), ''palma real'' (Bolivia), or ''aguaje'' (Peru), is a Arecaceae, palm t ...

'') at elevations of 0-200 m above sea level. It is also found in ponds and temporary ditches.

Pollination

It is pollinated by beetles.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15481832 conardii Flora of Belize Flora of Brazil Flora of Colombia Flora of Costa Rica Flora of Cuba Flora of the Dominican Republic Flora of Ecuador Flora of El Salvador Flora of Guyana Flora of Haiti Flora of Honduras Flora of Mexico Flora of Nicaragua Flora of Panama Flora of Puerto Rico Flora of Venezuela Flora of the Venezuelan Antilles Flora of Southern America Plants described in 1984