''Nymphaea'' () is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
hardy and tender
aquatic plant
Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...
s in the family
Nymphaeaceae
Nymphaeaceae () is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate climate, temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains five genera with about 70 know ...
. The genus has a
cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...
. Many species are cultivated as
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...
s, and many
cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s have been bred. Some taxa occur as
introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...
where they are not native,
and some are
weed
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...
s.
Plants of the genus are known commonly as water lilies,
or waterlilies in the United Kingdom. The genus name is from the Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
νυμφαία, ''nymphaia'' and the Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''nymphaea'', which means "water lily" and were inspired by the nymph
A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...
s of Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and Latin mythology.[
]
Description
Vegetative characteristics
Water lilies are aquatic, rhizomatous or tuberous, perennial or annual herbs with sometimes desiccation-tolerant, branched or unbranched rhizomes,[ ][ which can be ]stolon
In biology, a stolon ( from Latin ''wikt:stolo, stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal ...
iferous, or lacking stolons.[ The tuberous or fibrous roots are contractile.] The leaves are mostly floating, but submerged and emergent leaves occur as well. The shape of the lamina can be ovate, orbicular, elliptic,[ hastate,] or sagittate. The width of the lamina ranges in size from 2.5–3 cm to 40–60 cm. The lamina has a deep sinus and the basal lobes can be overlapping or divergent.[ The margin of the lamina can be entire, dentate,] or sinuate. The leaves can be stipulate, or exstipulate. The petioles are a few centimetres to 5–6 m long, and 0.3–1.9 cm wide.
Generative characteristics
The flowers are emergent, floating,[ or rarely submerged.] The diurnal or nocturnal,[ chasmogamous or rarely cleistogamous,] solitary, hermaphrodite, entomophilous, fragrant or inodorous flowers are mostly protogynous. The flowers have (3–)4(–5) green, sometimes spotted sepals, and about 6–50 lanceolate to spathulate, differently coloured petals, which are often gradually transitioning into the shape of the stamens.[ The gap between petals and stamens can be present or absent.] The androecium consists of 20–750 stamens. The stamens can be petaloid or not petal-like. The gynoecium consists of 5–35 carpels. The carpels usually possess a sterile appendage. The globose, fleshy, spongy, irregularly dehiscent fruit, borne on a terete, glabrous or pubescent, curved or coiled peduncle,[ bears arillate,] globose to elliptic, hairy or glabrous seeds with a smooth surface or longitudinal ridges. Proliferating pseudanthia or tuberous flowers (i.e., sterile, branching, proliferating floral structures for vegetative propagation) can be present or absent.
Cytology
Various ploidy
Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...
levels have been observed in ''Nymphaea'': 2x, 3x, 4x, 6x, 8x, and 16x. The chromosome count ranges from 28 to 224.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Nymphaea'' L. was described by Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
in 1753. It has three synonyms: ''Castalia'' Salisb. published by Richard Anthony Salisbury
Richard Anthony Salisbury (born Richard Anthony Markham; 2 May 1761 – 23 March 1829) was a British botanist. While he carried out valuable work in horticultural and botanical sciences, several bitter disputes caused him to be ostracised by hi ...
in 1805, ''Leuconymphaea'' Kuntze published by Otto Kuntze
Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze (23 June 1843 – 27 January 1907) was a German botanist.
Biography
Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig.
An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled ''Pocket Fauna of Leipzig''. Between 1863 and 1866, he ...
in 1891, and ''Ondinea'' Hartog published by Cornelis den Hartog
Cornelis is a Dutch language, Dutch form of the male given name Cornelius (name), Cornelius. Some common shortened versions of Cornelis in Dutch are Cees, Cor, Corné, Corneel, Crelis, Kees (given name), Kees, Neel and Nelis.
Cornelis (Kees) an ...
in 1970. The type species is ''Nymphaea alba'' L.
Subgenera
The genus ''Nymphaea'' has been divided into several subgenera
In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...
:
* ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Anecphya'' (Casp.) Conard
* ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Brachyceras'' (Casp.) Conard
* ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Confluentes'' S.W.L.Jacobs
* ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Hydrocallis'' (Planch.) Conard
* ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Lotos'' (DC.) Conard
* ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Nymphaea'' ( autonym)
Sections
The subgenus ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Nymphaea'' has been divided into sections:
* ''Nymphaea'' sect. ''Chamaenymphaea'' (Planch.) Wiersema
* ''Nymphaea'' sect. ''Nymphaea'' (autonym)
* ''Nymphaea'' sect. ''Xanthantha'' (Casp.) Wiersema
Species
As of January 2024, there are 65 accepted species by Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
History
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...
:
*'' Nymphaea abhayana''
*''Nymphaea alba
''Nymphaea alba'', the white waterlily, European white water lily or white nenuphar , is an aquatic flowering plant in the family Nymphaeaceae. It is native to North Africa, temperate Asia, Europe and tropical Asia (Jammu and Kashmir).
Since '' ...
''
*'' Nymphaea alexii''
*'' Nymphaea amazonum''
*'' Nymphaea ampla''
*'' Nymphaea atrans''
*'' Nymphaea belophylla''
* ''Nymphaea'' × ''borealis''
*'' Nymphaea caatingae''
*'' Nymphaea candida''
*'' Nymphaea carpentariae''
*'' Nymphaea conardii''
* ''Nymphaea'' × ''daubenyana''
*'' Nymphaea dimorpha''
*'' Nymphaea divaricata''
*'' Nymphaea elegans''
*'' Nymphaea elleniae''
*'' Nymphaea francae''
*'' Nymphaea gardneriana''
*'' Nymphaea georginae''
*'' Nymphaea gigantea''
*'' Nymphaea glandulifera''
*'' Nymphaea gracilis''
*'' Nymphaea guineensis''
*'' Nymphaea harleyi''
*'' Nymphaea hastifolia''
*'' Nymphaea heudelotii''
*'' Nymphaea immutabilis''
*'' Nymphaea jacobsii''
*'' Nymphaea jamesoniana''
*'' Nymphaea kakaduensis''
*'' Nymphaea kimberleyensis''
*'' Nymphaea lasiophylla''
*'' Nymphaea leibergii''
*'' Nymphaea lingulata''
*'' Nymphaea loriana''
*'' Nymphaea lotus''
*'' Nymphaea lukei''
*'' Nymphaea macrosperma''
*'' Nymphaea maculata''
*'' Nymphaea manipurensis''
*'' Nymphaea mexicana''
*'' Nymphaea micrantha''
*'' Nymphaea noelae''
*'' Nymphaea nouchali''
*'' Nymphaea novogranatensis''
*'' Nymphaea odorata''
*'' Nymphaea ondinea''
*'' Nymphaea oxypetala''
*'' Nymphaea paganuccii''
*'' Nymphaea pedersenii''
*'' Nymphaea potamophila''
*'' Nymphaea prolifera''
*'' Nymphaea pubescens''
*'' Nymphaea pulchella''
*'' Nymphaea rapinii''
*'' Nymphaea rubra''
*'' Nymphaea rudgeana''
*'' Nymphaea siamensis''
*'' Nymphaea stuhlmannii''
*'' Nymphaea sulphurea''
* ''Nymphaea'' × ''sundvikii''
*'' Nymphaea tenuinervia''
*'' Nymphaea tetragona''
*'' Nymphaea thermarum''
* ''Nymphaea'' × ''thiona''
*'' Nymphaea vanildae''
*'' Nymphaea vaporalis''
*'' Nymphaea violacea''
Fossil species
*†'' Nymphaea brongniartii''
*†'' Nymphaea elisabethae'' [Gee, C. T., & Taylor, D. W. (2016)]
Aquatic macrophytes from the upper Oligocene fossillagerstätte of Rott (Rhineland, Germany). Part II: A new fossil leaf species of ''Nymphaea'' (subgenus ''Lotos''), ''N. elisabethae'' Gee et David W. Taylor sp. nov.
/ref>
*†'' Nymphaea haeringiana''
*†'' Nymphaea minuta''
Evolutionary relationships
The genus ''Nymphaea'' may be paraphyletic in its current circumscription, as the genera '' Euryale'' and '' Victoria'' have been placed within the genus ''Nymphaea'' in several studies.
Ecology
Habitat
''Nymphaea'' occurs in freshwater,[Parveen, S., Kaur, S., Baishya, R., & Goel, S. (2022)]
Predicting the potential suitable habitats of genus ''Nymphaea'' in India using MaxEnt modeling.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 194(12), 853. as well as brackish water habitats.
Pollination
Flowers of ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Hydrocallis'' are pollinated by ''Cyclocephala
''Cyclocephala'' is a genus of scarab beetles from the subfamily Dynastinae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Beetles of this genus occur from southeastern Canada to Argentina, India and the West Indies.
Adults of this genus are nocturnal or crepuscu ...
'' beetles. Likewise, beetle pollination by '' Ruteloryctes morio'', a member of the same Cyclocephalini tribe, has been reported in ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Lotos''. The subgenera ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Anecphya'' and ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Brachyceras'' are pollinated by bees and flies. The subgenus ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Nymphaea'' is pollinated by bees, flies and beetles.
Herbivory
Many birds feed on seeds and fruits of ''Nymphaea''.
Invasive species
Outside of its natural habitat, ''Nymphaea mexicana'' and hybrids thereof have become invasive weeds.[Reid, M. K., Naidu, P., Paterson, I. D., Mangan, R., & Coetzee, J. A. (2021)]
Population genetics of invasive and native ''Nymphaea mexicana'' Zuccarini: Taking the first steps to initiate a biological control programme in South Africa.
Aquatic Botany, 171, 103372.[Reid, M. K., Sutton, G. F., Coetzee, J. A., Gettys, L. A., & Hill, M. P. (2024)]
Distribution and host preference of a potential biocontrol agent with a new association for the alien water lily ''Nymphaea mexicana'' in South Africa.
African Journal of Aquatic Science, 49(2), 132-144.[Reid, M. K., Paterson, I. D., Coetzee, J. A., Gettys, L. A., & Hill, M. P. (2023)]
Know thy enemy: Investigating genetic contributions from putative parents of invasive ''Nymphaea mexicana'' hybrids in South Africa as part of efforts to develop biological control.
Biological Control, 184, 105291. It has been proposed to employ the weevil species '' Bagous longulus'' as a biocontrol agent against ''Nymphaea mexicana'' in South Africa. Invasive horticultural hybrids can pose a threat to ''Nymphaea'' species through introgressive hybridisation.[Yakandawala, D., & Yakandawala, K. (2011)]
Hybridization between native and invasive alien plants: an overlooked threat to the biodiversity of Sri Lanka.
Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Sciences), 40(1). The naturalised hybrids can displace native species and mask their disappearance, as it can be difficult to distinguish between species and naturalised hybrids.[Nierbauer, K. U., Kanz, B., & Zizka, G. (2014)]
The widespread naturalisation of Nymphaea hybrids is masking the decline of wild-type ''Nymphaea alba'' in Hesse, Germany.
Flora-Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants, 209(2), 122-130.[Yakandawala, D., Guruge, S., & Yakandawala, K. (2017)]
The identity of the violet flowered water lily (Nymphaeaceae) and its hybrid origin in the wetland ecosystems of Sri Lanka.
Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, 45(2).
Conservation
Several species are in danger of extinction. ''Nymphaea thermarum'' is classified as critically endangered (CR), ''Nymphaea loriana'' is classified as endangered (EN), ''Nymphaea stuhlmannii'' is classified as endangered (EN), and ''Nymphaea nouchali'' var. ''mutandaensis'' is also classified as endangered (EN).
Use
Horticulture
Water lilies are not only decorative, but also provide useful shade which helps reduce the growth of algae
Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...
in ponds and lakes. Many of the water lilies familiar in water gardening are hybrids and cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s. These cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
's Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
It includes the full range of cultivated p ...
:
* 'Escarboucle' (orange-red)
* 'Gladstoniana' (double white flowers with prominent yellow stamens)
* 'Gonnère' (double white scented flowers)
* 'James Brydon;' (cupped rose-red flowers)
* 'Marliacea Chromatella' (pale yellow flowers)
* 'Pygmaea Helvola' (miniature, with cupped fragrant yellow flowers)
Food
All water lilies are poisonous and contain an alkaloid
Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids.
Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...
called nupharin in almost all of their parts.
In India, it has mostly been eaten as a famine food or as a medicinal (both cooked).
In Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
it was formerly eaten as a type of medicine and its price was too high to serve as a normal meal, but in the 1940s or earlier some villagers began to grow water lilies in the paddy fields left uncultivated during the monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
season (Yala season), and the price dropped. The tubers are called ''manel'' here and eaten boiled and in curries.[
In West Africa, usage varied between cultures, in the Upper Guinea the rhizomes were only considered famine foods - here the tubers were either roasted in ashes, or dried and ground into a flour. The Buduma people ate the seeds and rhizomes. Some tribes ate the rhizomes raw.
The ]Hausa people
The Hausa (Endonym, autonyms for singular: Bahaushe (male, m), Bahaushiya (female, f); plural: Hausawa and general: Hausa; exonyms: Ausa; Ajami script, Ajami: ) are a native ethnic group in West Africa. They speak the Hausa language, which is the ...
of Ghana, Nigeria and the people of Southern Sudan used the tubers of ''Nymphaea lotus'', the seeds (inside the tubers) are locally referred to as 'gunsi' in Ghana. They are ground into flour.
The plants were also said to be eaten in the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. In the 1950s there were no records of leaves or flowers being eaten.
In a North American species, the boiled young leaves and unopened flower buds are said to be edible. The seeds, high in starch, protein, and oil, may be popped, parched, or ground into flour. Potato-like tubers can be collected from the species ''N. tuberosa'' (='' N. odorata'').
Water lilies were said to have been a major food source for a certain tribe of indigenous Australians in 1930, with the flowers and stems eaten raw, while the "roots and seedpods" were cooked either on an open fire or in a ground oven.
Other uses
Tannins extracted from rhizomes are used in dyeing wool a purple-black or brown colour. The peduncles are used as pipes to smoke tobacco.
Culture
The Ancient Egyptians used the water lilies of the Nile
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
as cultural symbols. Since 1580 it has become popular in the English language to apply the Latin word ''lotus'', originally used to designate a tree, to the water lilies growing in Egypt, and much later the word was used to translate words in Indian texts. The lotus motif is a frequent feature of temple column architecture.
In Egypt, the lotus, rising from the bottom mud to unfold its petals to the sun, suggested the glory of the sun's own emergence from the primaeval slime. It was a metaphor of creation. It was a symbol of the fertility gods and goddesses as well as a symbol of the upper Nile as the giver of life.[
A Roman ]belief
A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...
existed that drinking a liquid of crushed ''Nymphaea'' in vinegar for 10 consecutive days turned a boy into a eunuch
A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...
.
A Syrian terra-cotta plaque from the 14th–13th centuries BC shows the goddess Asherah
Asherah (; ; ; ; Qatabanian language, Qatabanian: ') was a goddess in ancient Semitic religions. She also appears in Hittites, Hittite writings as ''Ašerdu(š)'' or ''Ašertu(š)'' (), and as Athirat in Ugarit. Some scholars hold that Ashera ...
holding two lotus blossoms. An ivory panel from the 9th-8th centuries BC shows the god Horus
Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...
seated on a lotus blossom, flanked by two cherub
A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of ...
s.
The French Impressionist painter
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
Claude Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...
is known for his many paintings of water lilies in the pond in his garden at Giverny.
''N. nouchali'' is the national flower of Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
.
Water lilies are also used as ritual narcotics. According to one source, this topic "was the subject of a lecture by William Emboden given at Nash Hall of the Harvard Botanical Museum on the morning of April 6, 1979".
Examples
File:Nymphaea alba2006-07-06.jpg, ''Nymphaea alba
''Nymphaea alba'', the white waterlily, European white water lily or white nenuphar , is an aquatic flowering plant in the family Nymphaeaceae. It is native to North Africa, temperate Asia, Europe and tropical Asia (Jammu and Kashmir).
Since '' ...
''
File:Nymphaea-colorata 0122a.jpg, ''Nymphaea nouchali'' var. ''zanzibariensis''
File:Nymphaeales - Nymphaea gigantea 14.jpg, '' Nymphaea gigantea''
File:Nymphaea nouchali5.JPG, '' Nymphaea nouchali''
File:Attraction.jpg, ''Nymphaea'' 'Attraction'
File:Nymphaea Laydekeri Purpurata.jpg, ''Nymphaea'' 'Laydekeri Purpurata'
File:Nymphaea mexicana (25) 1200.jpg, '' Nymphaea mexicana''
File:Nymphaea capensis (14) 1200.jpg, ''Nymphaea nouchali'' var. ''caerulea''
File:Unknown Australian waterlily.jpg, ''Nymphaea'' sp.
Daubeny's water lily at BBG (50824).jpg, ''Nymphaea ''×'' daubenyana''
See also
* Albert de Lestang, propagator and seed collector
* List of plants known as lily Lily usually refers to herbaceous plants of the genus ''Lilium'', with large showy trumpet-shaped flowers. Many species are cultivated as ornamentals.
Many other plants not closely related to lilies are called lilies, usually because their flowers ...
References
External links
* Knotts, K
The first hybrid waterlilies.
GRIN Species Records of ''Nymphaea''.
Further reading
* Slocum, P. D. ''Waterlilies and Lotuses''. Timber Press. 2005.
restricted online version at Google Books
{{Authority control
Nymphaeales genera
Freshwater plants
Medicinal plants