''Nymphaea macrosperma'', water lily, is an emergent water plant native to northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The water lily occurs in freshwater lagoons, and has large round leaves that float on the water surface.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

The leaves have a dentate margin.

Generative characteristics

The diurnal flowers extend above the water surface.Breukel, H. (n.d.). Nymphaea macrosperma Merr. & L.M. Perry. Seerosenforum.de Das Portal Der Seerose. Retrieved February 1, 2024, from https://www.seerosenforum.de/gattung/Anecphya/Macrosperma/Macrosperma.aspx

Taxonomy

Publication

It was published by Elmer Drew Merrill and

Lily May Perry Lily May Perry (1895-1992) was a Canadian-American botanist who worked at Arnold Arboretum and is most known for detailed compilation of information on medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia and her assistance with the ''Flora of New Guinea ...

in 1942. In the same publication, the species was described a second time as ''Nymphaea dictyophlebia'' , which is a synonym of ''Nymphaea macrosperma'' .Jacobs, S. W. L. (1992)
"New species, lectotypes and synonyms of Australasian ''Nymphaea'' (Nymphaeaceae)."
Telopea, 4(4), 635-641.

Type specimen

The type specimen was collected by LJ Brass in Lake Daviumbu, New Guinea (British New Guinea) in August 1936.Type of ''Nymphaea macrosperma'' Merr. & L.M.Perry amily NYMPHAEACEAE (n.d.). JSTOR. Retrieved February 1, 2024, from https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.specimen.l0038664

Position within ''Nymphaea''

It is placed in ''Nymphaea'' subgenus ''Anecphya''.Löhne, C., Borsch, T., Jacobs, S. W., Hellquist, C. B., & Wiersema, J. H. (2008)
"Nuclear and plastid DNA sequences reveal complex reticulate patterns in Australian water-lilies (''Nymphaea'' subgenus ''Anecphya'', Nymphaeaceae)."
Australian Systematic Botany, 21(4), 229-250.

Etymology

The specific epithet ''macrosperma'' means large-seeded.''Crataegus macrosperma'' (large-seeded hawthorn): Go Botany. (n.d.). Native Plant Trust. Retrieved February 1, 2024, from https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/crataegus/macrosperma/Bayton, R. (2020). Practical Uses of Botanical Latin. In The Gardener's Botanical: An Encyclopedia of Latin Plant Names - with More than 5,000 Entries (pp. 22-318). Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691209135-007

Conservation

The

NCA NCA may refer to: Businessses and organisations Australia * National Capital Authority, a government authority for development planning of the Capital Territory * National Crime Authority, defunct investigative agency India * Nuclear Command Aut ...

status of ''Nymphaea macrosperma'' is Special Least Concern (SL).

Uses

The plant is a traditional

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

bushfood. The seeds are usually described as "sweet like a pea" and are eaten for lunch.

References

Bushfood macrosperma Angiosperms of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Taxa named by Elmer Drew Merrill Taxa named by Lily May Perry Plants described in 1942 {{Australia-plant-stub