Page 1

Unknown tropicals in Trinidad/Tobago (Kevin) and Venezuela (Fernando)
Click images to enlarge

 Kevin  Fernando
   
 Kevin wrote: This lily blooms in the day. In the morning the beautiful big white flower opens with the yellow inside, then it starts to fade

Fernando wrote: Picture from the Caracas Botanical Garden small pond that we recovered last year. The plant was collected by some student on a field trip. (This) is a night blooming tropical and the flower closes around 1.00 PM and starts opening again about 8.00 - 9.00 PM.

I think we need a much closer pic of the flower and pad and also an evening observation.

 Kit wrote: There is no question in my mind, at least, that the first picture Kevin sent is from the subgenus Lotos (usually night blooming tropicals). As Jacques can attest, N. lotus is day blooming in South Africa (something we have found VERY interesting!) and so time of flowering may not help with identification.
   
Kevin wrote: In the afternoon a smaller white flower opens. (This) picture which shows the large flowers closing on the left and on the right are the smaller flowers which opened about 2.00pm. The larger flowers opened at about 8.00am.  Fernando wrote: This beautiful day blooming (was) also collected in the wild. Unfortunately, the light pink colour at the tip of the sepals can’t be seen on the pic due to the resize of the original one.

Kit wrote: It's rather hard to see the plants on the left clearly so we're going by the first picture Kevin sent. The flower shape of the plants on the right does indeed look like the first picture Fernando sent but it's hard to compare the pads. Fernando's has a distinct "sail" at the sinus of nearly every pad where we can find only one like that on Kevin's plants.

Kevin, can you take pictures of each flower close up and a representative pad of each? If the flower shape and size are different but the pads appear more or less the same, there is the possibility that the plants on the right could be N. ampla. Though it is day blooming (Brachyceras) it has often been confused with N. lotus even by experienced collectors.

Kevin wrote: Because this reserve is many miles away and up a river by canoe we will have to use the photos I have. I will attach a few other shots whic show the lily at different stages. This shot is just before it fades.

Fernando wrote: Definitely the flower doesn’t looks like the two from the Caracas Botanical Garden, neither night or day blooming. Even the flower when fades, it looks like water lilies flower after a heavy rain but is amazing the similarity with a night tropical.

 

 Kevin wrote: Ignore the flower

Fernando wrote:  I can see the pad that it is convolutions and serrated with an open sinus, characteristics not appearing on both from the Botanical garden.

 

 Kevin wrote: Crop of the same shot (as second from top) but taken at a higher resolution

Fernando wrote: The under pads shows a beautiful brownish golden colour, pads border are not well defined.I think now we have not two but three (two day and one night blooming) different water lilies within nearby geographical region.

On both from Venezuela we got the lobe overlapping at sinus and non-serrated and convolution leaf edge.Once I have the pics from the one in Venezuela, I will send it and I will try to get enough details from flowers and pads.

Is getting more exciting.

Continued on Page 2>

Waterlilies | Lotus | Aquatic Plants | Victoria | Our Adventure With Victoria
Water Gardening | Water Gardening Friends | New This Month
Kit & Ben Knotts | Our Garden | Search The Site | Home 
New! Email Discussion List