''Nymphaea prolifera'' is a species of waterlily naturally found from Mexico (specifically Veracruz and Tabasco) to Brazil and northeastern Argentina. Additionally, it has been reported to occur in Uruguay.Berazategui, P., Duarte, W., García, M., & Villagrán, E. (2009)
"''Nymhaea prolifera'' Wiersema (Nymphaeaceae): primera cita para el Uruguay."
Comunicaciones Botánicas Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Uruguay, 6(137).Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. (n.d.). ''Nymphaea prolifera''. Flora Argentina. Retrieved November 2, 2023, from http://buscador.floraargentina.edu.ar/species/details/25545

Description

Vegetative characteristics

''Nymphaea prolifera'' is a perennial aquatic herb.

Generative characteristics

Nymphaea prolifera Wiersema proliferating pseudanthium

Nymphaea prolifera Wiersema flower side view

Nymphaea prolifera Wiersema flower closing

The floral odour has been described as musty.Breukel, H. (2010). ''Nymphaea prolifera'' Wiersema. Seerosenforum.de Das Portal Der Seerose. Retrieved November 2, 2023, from https://www.seerosenforum.de/gattung/Hydrocallis/Prolifera/Prolifera.aspx

Cytology

''Nymphaea prolifera'' is

aneuploid Aneuploidy is the presence of an abnormal number of chromosomes in a cell, for example a human somatic cell having 45 or 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. It does not include a difference of one or more complete sets of chromosomes. A cel ...

. The chromosome count is 2n = 18.Poczai, P., Mátyás, K.K., Szabó, I. et al. Genetic Variability of Thermal ''Nymphaea'' (Nymphaeaceae) Populations Based on ISSR Markers: Implications on Relationships, Hybridization, and Conservation. Plant Mol Biol Rep 29, 906–918 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-011-0302-9Chen, F., Liu, X., Yu, C., Chen, Y., Tang, H., & Zhang, L. (2017)
"Water lilies as emerging models for Darwin’s abominable mystery."
Horticulture research, 4.

Reproduction

Fruits and seeds are only produced on very rare occasions. Instead, the main form of reproduction relies on the sterile, tubiferous flowers as a form of vegetative reproduction. Due to those vegetative propagules, it can persist through periods of decay. The tubers readily separate and it is common to see numerous floating tubers in the water. They drift briefly in the water, until they establish roots to anchor themselves in the mud. When the water level declines, the tubers are likely embedded within the substrate.Viviparous Tropical Night Bloomers ''N. lasiophylla'' & ''N. prolifera''. (n.d.). Victoria Adventure. Retrieved November 2, 2023, from http://www.victoria-adventure.org/waterlilies/names/tidbits/tnv_lasiophylla_prolifera.html

Taxonomy

''Nymphaea prolifera'' was first described by

John Harry Wiersema John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

in 1984. It is placed in the subgenus ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Hydrocallis''.Grob, V., Moline, P., Pfeifer, E., Novelo, A. R., & Rutishauser, R. (2006)
"Developmental morphology of branching flowers in ''Nymphaea prolifera''."
Journal of Plant Research, 119, 561-570.

Etymology

The specific epithet ''prolifera'' references its distinctive trait of proliferous asexual reproduction.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

Conservation

It is a rare species.Lot, A. (1999)
"Catálogo de angiospermas acuáticas de México: hidrófitas estrictas emergentes, sumergidas y flotantes."
p. 100. Mexiko: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Ecology

Pollination

The flowers are likely entomophilous (i.e. insect-pollinated).

Habitat

In Mexico, ''Nymphaea prolifera'' was collected in temporarily flooded meadows at the roadside, at depths of 30 to 60 cm. The populations appear shortly after the onset of the rainy season.Olvera, M., & Lot, A. (1991)
"Nuevo registro de ''Nymphaea prolifera'' (Nymphaeaceae) para México."
Botanical Sciences, (51), 93-94. Its habitat within the

Pantanal The Pantanal () is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest Flooded grasslands and savannas, flooded grasslands. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but i ...

consists of flooded clay fields.Pott, Vali. (1998)
"The Nymphaeaceae family in the Pantanal, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil."
Acta Botanica Brasilica. 12. 183-194. 10.1590/S0102-33061998000200007. It is also found in swamps, temporary ponds, pastures.

Herbivory

This species experiences low levels of herbivory in the growth period. This may be explained by a high tannin content of 5.40%, as tannins are known to reduce insect herbivory.Martinez, F. S., & Franceschini, C. (2018)
"Invertebrate herbivory on floating-leaf macrophytes at the northeast of Argentina: should the damage be taken into account in estimations of plant biomass?."
Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 90, 155-167. Few occurrences of adult '' Hydrotimetes natans'' beetles, which are being used as a biological control agent of ''

Cabomba caroliniana ''Cabomba caroliniana'', commonly known as Carolina fanwort, is a rhizomatous, aquatic, perennial, herb native to North and South America. Having been a popular aquarium plant, it has been exported around the world, and has become an invasive sp ...

'' in Australia, have been observed on ''Nymphaea prolifera'' in its natural habitat. In a laboratory setting, it was shown that adult beetles can feed on ''Nymphaea prolifera'' leaves, although it prefers ''Cabomba caroliniana''. The beetle larvae are host specific to ''Cabomba'' and fails to enter stems of ''Nymphaea prolifera''.Kumaran, N., Vance, T. J., Comben, D., Dell, Q., Oleiro, M. I., Goñalons, C. M., ... & Raghu, S. (2022)
"''Hydrotimetes natans'' as a suitable biological control agent for the invasive weed ''Cabomba caroliniana''."
Biological Control, 169, 104894. The feeding behaviour of a different beetle species ''

Neochetina eichhorniae The mottled water hyacinth weevil, ''Neochetina eichhorniae'', is a beetle that has been introduced as a biological pest control herbivore agent to waterways and lakes in countries worldwide to control the spread of the invasive noxious weed spe ...

'' was also evaluated. Despite the high nitrogen and low lignin contents of ''Nymphaea prolifera'' foliage, the beetle showed a low preference for ''Nymphaea prolifera'' as a food source and it is unlikely this beetle would feed on ''Nymphaea prolifera'' under natural conditions.MARTÍNEZ, F. S., FRANCESCHINI, M. C., & Poi, A. (2013)
"Food preference ''Neochetina eichhorniae'' (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) by aquatic plants of different nutritional value."
Revista Colombiana de Entomología, 39(1), 81-87. In its natural habitat, 13.3% of leaves had petioles damaged by endophagous larva.Franceschini, M.C., Murphy, K.J., Moore, I. et al. Impacts on freshwater macrophytes produced by small invertebrate herbivores: Afrotropical and Neotropical wetlands compared. Hydrobiologia 847, 3931–3950 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04360-5 ''Nymphaea prolifera'' synthesises methylated benzenoids to repel waterlily aphids, which feed on the flowers.Liu, G., Fu, J., Wang, L., Fang, M., Zhang, W., Yang, M., ... & Jiang, Y. (2023)
"Diverse O-methyltransferases catalyze the biosynthesis of floral benzenoids that repel aphids from the flowers of waterlily ''Nymphaea prolifera''."
Horticulture Research, uhad237.

Cultivation

It is rarely cultivated.Presnell, C. (2009, August). The intrigue of night blooming ''Nymphaea prolifera''. WGI Online Journal. Retrieved November 2, 2023, from http://www.watergardenersinternational.org/journal/4-3/prolifera/gallery1.html

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15481823 prolifera Flora of Argentina Flora of Brazil Flora of Costa Rica Flora of Ecuador Flora of Mexico Flora of Paraguay Flora of Uruguay Plants described in 1984