The world's largest water lily was hidden in full view of the public for 177 years
This water lily has been part of the Kew Gardens Herbarium for 177 years, a huge collection of preserved plants. According to Kew staff, this is the first new species of giant water lilies to be discovered in more than a century.
Water lilies have been mistakenly identified as the Species Victoria Amazonica. Carlos Magdalena, a senior botanical gardener at Kew, suspects that in addition to Amazonica and a variety called cruziana, there is another Victoria water lily variety. This initiated a survey involving the Botanical Gardens of Bolivia.
