Phylum:
Angiosperms
Order:
Nymphaeales
Family:
Nymphaeaceae
Genus:
Nymphaea
Species:
N.micrantha
Common Name:
Blue Egyptian Lotus
Conservation Status:
LC
Subspecies:
None
There are a couple of hybrids.
(m3pl-ang-nym-nymp-nymphaea.micrantha) Blue Egyptian Lotus
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Nymphaea micrantha is a water lily belonging to the genus Nymphaea, which is a genus of hardy and tender aquatic plants. Most plants of this genus are known commonly as water lilies, or waterlilies. The Latin word nymphaea means waterlily.
New plantlets develop on the adaxial leaf surface through foliar proliferation. The development of those plantlets is halted, while the leaf is still attached. However, once the leaf is detached the plantlets develop fully. In India, which is outside of this species natural range, it has been shown that Nymphaea micrantha predominantly reproduces asexually. In India it has been shown to lack any amount of genetic diversity.
The specific epithet micrantha, from the Greek mikros meaning small and anthos meaning flower, means small-flowered.
Description
The Nymphaea micrantha is known for its spotted form, and has reddish-brown and dark brown spots on light green leaves. The spotted form is popular as an aquarium plant and is sometimes called the Tri-colored lotus.
Water lilies are aquatic, rhizomatous or tuberous, perennial or annual herbs with sometimes desiccation-tolerant, branched or unbranched rhizomes, which can be stoloniferous, 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.
Habitat:
It is native to the tropics of West Africa.
Range:
This genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with many of the species being cultivated as ornamental plants. Some taxa occur as introduced species where they are not native and some are considered weeds.
