Andalucia Life Fauna and Flora, Flowers of Andalucia Southern Spain

August 2007, Water Lily - Nymphaeacae

Last month we featured the Magnolia, an ancient flowering plant only slightly younger than the most ancient, the water lily.

The water lily is a genus of 50 species of submerged aquatic perennials naturally occurring worldwide. Gene analysis reveals that the plant is 140 million years old, a time when the dinosaurs were around. The water lily is one of the first two branches on the family tree of flowering plants, the other is called Amborella and is represented by a shrub with insignificant flowers found only on the remote island of New Caledonia in the Pacific so no we will not be featuring that plant next month. To see water lilys in all their glory, not to mention the pool frog (Rana lessonae) you only have to travel to the Botanical Gardens at Malaga.