This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A new paper published in the journal Phytotaxa describes a new species in the genus Victoria, the Colombian giant water lily (Victoria colombiana). With only three other known species in the genus, V. colombiana joins the pantheon of nature's giants with pads measuring up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) across.
The story of how the plant came to be scientifically described begins with a chance sighting on social media before culminating in a boat race against time at 1 a.m. in a flooded Colombian rainforest. Carlos Magdalena, botanical and scientific research horticulturist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was first made aware of the water lily on Instagram five years ago when he spotted it in photos taken in Colombia's Inírida region by Jeremiah Harris. Harris, who runs a carnivorous plant nursery in the U.S., was not aware at the time of the significance of his snapshot, mistakenly identifying the new species as the more common V. amazonica.
However, Magdalena, a water lily expert, immediately suspected something wasn't quite right, as the natural range of known Victoria water lilies does not extend to the Inírida River in Guainía, Colombia. The river is in the headwater drainage of the Orinoco River, South America's third-longest river and one of its most important waterways. This prompted him to speculate that it could be a new species.
To confirm his suspicions, Magdalena scanned the Inírida and its many surrounding lakes using satellite imagery until he saw several Victoria pads from a single plant plainly visible, verifying that Victoria plants were indeed present there. Harris confirmed that the plants seen in the online maps were the same ones shown to him by the local guides. Magdalena then contacted Mauricio Bernal at the Jardín Botánico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis in Bogotá, who also grows Victoria in the garden's tropical displays and has a history of collaboration with Kew.
Together, they worked closely with Nilo Rodríguez, Jaime Hernández and Gustavo Melo, members of the Indigenous reserves del río Atabapo; Caranacoa-Yurí-Laguna Morocoto; and Puinave-Piapoco el Paujil, to organize a field trip to Inírida. Rodríguez described knowing about the water lilies from their childhood but did not recall seeing many. After nearly two years of planning, an expedition to Inírida was ready.
Once the team was ready, they set off into Inírida's rainforest on a five-day expedition, yet by the fifth day it seemed they would return empty-handed. They initially located just two individual water lilies, but the plants were not in flower. This was problematic, as a fertile herbarium voucher—a pressed and dried plant specimen that requires a flower—is critical for botanists to distinguish between species by comparing specimens with other herbarium vouchers, such as the 6.4 million stored at Kew's herbarium.
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