Five tropical water lily species that make very satisfactory
water garden additions are commonly listed in aquatic nursery catalohs
(see Appendix B for a list of these sources ). These species are
Nymphaea capensis, N. colorata, Ngigantea, N. lotus, and N. rubra.
Nymphaea capensis (cape water lily ) from the Cape of Good Hope
regiom in Africa, is often listed as "blue capensis."There
are many commonly available cultivars of N. capensis from Zanzivar,
off the coast of East Africa, many of them selections of variety
zanzibariensis.
Nymphaea colorata is a very choice and desirable lily fou the small
or medium pool. It is comparable to its hybrids 'Director George
T. Moore' and 'Midnight'.
Nymphaea colorata is a very choice and desirable lily for the
small or medium pool. It is comparable to its hybrids 'Director
George T. Moore' and 'Midnight'.
Nymphaea gigantean, listed as 'Blue Gigantea' in William Tricker's
catalog, is quite large, very beautiful, and very impressive. It
does demand warm water of 80℉ ( 27 ℃ ) to grow3 and bloom; otherwise,
it enters dormancy. Two might bloomers, (N. 'Juno' is usually considered
to be N. lotus, and N. 'Trudy Slocum' was selected from a group
of N. 'Juno') and N. rubra, are also being grown and sold in nurseries.
Most of other species have similar in cultivars that are superior
in performance.
GROUP NYMPHAEA APOCARPIAE [LYTOPLEURA CASPARY 1865, 1878, 1888]
In general, species in the group Apocarpiae display carpels
that are free from one another at the sides, fused along part
of the suture with the axis of the flower, and fused dorsally
with the perigynous torus. These are tropical species with diurnal
flowers ranging in color from blue through pink to white. Blooms
are raised 3-12 in (8-30 cm ) above the water. Peduncles are stiff.
Rhizomes are upright, tuberous, and round (or nearly so ). Tubers
are dormant during the dry season in their native habitat; growth
initiates with the rainy season. Cold weather will also induce
dormancy.
Subgenus Anecphya Caspary 1865, 1888
Subgenus Anecphya consists of a single species, Nymphaea gigantean,
native to Australia and New Guinea. The species includes three
varieties. Carpellary styles are generally absent. Stamens are
plentiful with narrow filaments and short, curved anthers without
appendages.
Subgenus Brachyceras Caspary 1865,1878,1888
Subgenus Brachyceras includes 14 species distributed throughout
the tropics. In general. Carpellary styles are present; stylea
are short, stiff. And fleshy. Stamens are numerous. Anthers are
long and usually have sturdy appendages. Filaments are flat.
The day-blooming tropical cultivars commonly seen today derive
from this group through hybridizing. Tow of the species, Nymphaea
capensis and N. colorata, are used extensively in water gardens
around the world.
GROUP NYMPHAEA SYNCARPIAE [SYMPHYTOPLEURA CASPARY 1865]
In Group Syncarpiae carpels are completely fused with one another
at the sides and are attached alsoto the axis of the flower and
to the torus as in Group Apocarpiae. Flowers are white, pink,
purple, or yellow, never blue. Plants are either day or night
flowering.
Subgenus Hydrocallis Planchon
The Hydrocallis water lilies share the following characteristics:
1. All are night-blooming tropicals (artificial light has little
effect on blooming).
2. Blooms either float or remain close to the water surface.
3. Flowers open for a short period ( about two hours in the
case of some varieties ) in the middle of the night or very early
morning.(See subgenus Lotos for blooms open from dusk to about
11 a.m.)
4. None of the 14 species is suited for the average water garden
as blooms are short-lived and open in the middle of the might.
These lilies are for the collector with a medium or large pool.
5. All species are native to the tropics of the Western Hemisphere.
6. Petals are usually in whorls of four.
7. Pollination is frequently accomplished by the scarab beetle
( Cyclocephala spp. ).
8. Styles are slender and cylindrical with enlarged club-shaped
tips.
In A Monogrph of Nymphaes Subgenus Hydrocallis (Nymphaeaceae
) (1987), Dr. John H. Wiersema lists the 14 species described
here. This is four more species than Dr. Henry S.Conard lists
in his The Waterlilies: AMonograph of the Genus Nymphaea, written
almost a century earlier. Dr. Wiersema dropped N. blanda, N. gibertii,
and N. stenaspidota and added N. belophylla, N. conardii, N. glandulifera,
N. lingulata, N. novogranatensis, N. potamophila, and N.prolifera.
Note that "Sepal color" in the following Hydrocallis
descriptions refers to the outside of the sepals not the inside
as with other Nymphaea species and cultivars. The inside of the
sepals usually matches the petals-creamy white, in most6 cases.
Subenus Lotos de Candolle 1831
The Lotos water lilies include the night-blooming tropicals
that have been variously hybridized to create the night-blooming
cultivars popular in the trade today. Conard includes only four
species in the subgenus Lotos, but Kenneth Landon has identified
one more (N. spontanea, closely relates to N. pubescens ), bringing
the current total to five.
Plants are native to the tropics of the Old World, the Philippine
Islands, Madagascar, and to two isolated warm-water areas of Hungary.
In their native habitats many of the Lotos group experience a
wet season alternating with a dry season. During the end of the
wet season, tubers form under the plants, leaves die down, and
plants survive the dry season as dormant tubers. In cultivation
the roundish tubers usually go dormant when cold weather arrives.
Flowers of Lotos open about dusk. On warm days blooms close
between 11 a.m. and noon, opening and closing for three or four
successive days arrive, the blooms stay open day and night continuously
for a few days. Flower scent is generally considered more pungent
than pleasing.
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