In London’s Royal Botanic Gardens, an enormous waterlily has been discovered and belongs to an entirely new species. The plant has spent 177 years in the garden’s herbarium and is known as the Victoria boliviana. It has leaves growing to nearly 10 feet wide in the wild, according to a press release from the gardens in Kew, West London.
The largest specimen of this species is located in La Rinconada Gardens in Bolivia, with leaves of up to 10.5 feet in width. The new species was commonly and incorrectly believed to be the Victoria amazonica.
A taxonomist, systematist and field botanist at Kew named Alex Monro said “ having this new data for Victoria and identifying and documenting plant diversity is crucial to protecting it and sustainably benefiting from it,”
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