''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
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