Named Waterlilies

In 1999, in my capacity at the time as International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society (IWGS) Registrar, I was charged with compiling a list of named waterlilies so that future duplication of existing names could be avoided. I was required to find not only the names but also the author or originator and information about where these names were published.

After submitting a Provisional Check List of Waterlily Names to the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) in early 2000, I resigned the post of Registrar but have continued to update my own list because of the personal interest I developed in nomenclature and taxonomy. I got hooked on the detective work, finding and "placing" waterlilies and their names in historical perspective. I also found, since I had been such a novice initially, that I wanted to learn more about the rules and guidelines that comprise today's nomenclature.

The list of waterlily names became a valuable tool for many people but in order to make it even more useful, we provided links to images provided by contributors from around the world. We then added type, brief descriptions and parentage when known. When more detailed information of particular interest is available, we add links to Addenda.

The process of updating, looking again at the all the literature available to me with fresh eyes, with more understanding of nomenclature and with new information, has clarified many issues unresolved in the original document and in my personal revisions previously found here. In addition, many cultivars have met the requirements of publication through the printing and distribution of the September 2002 version of this list.
.
To be strictly correct, a name is comprised of the genus and the epithet, i.e. Genus + Epithet = Name (Nymphaea + 'A. Siebert' = Full Name). Since I personally dislike the word "epithet" and for the sake of simplicity, I use the term "name" interchangeably with "epithet". What follows is a list of waterlily names, as complete as possible and current through October 2006. It numbers nearly 1,900.

All names in the list belong to Nymphaea Linnaeus (Species plantarum 1.510. 1753), so the Nymphaea or N. that should be at the beginning of each is left off for brevity. Obvious misspellings are not included. Additional names that are not accepted for various reasons or that refer to other genera are in a separate list, "Names Not Accepted", numbering almost 200.

Those cultivar names which I believe to be published and established in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) 2004 are expressed in Plain Bold Print. Those names which are synonyms, that have been published but are not the correct names for the lilies in question, are expressed in Plain Print; they should not be reused in Nymphaea. Other names which appear in Plain Print are some about which more information is needed and several that duplicate names already used and are therefore invalid. Species recognized as valid under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) are expressed in italic bold print and synonyms in italic print.

As a lay person, now familiar with but not an expert on the ICNCP and ICBN, it has continued to bother me that there has been no easy way determine which names refer to species (wild) plants and which to cultivars, particularly in older references where it was the custom to use Latinized form and italic print for all names, these now reserved for wild plant names. This was sometimes further complicated by preceding cultivar names with species names, some of which are accepted species today and some of which are not.

For clarity here, the following format has been used. All cultivar names appear in Plain Print, Bold and Regular, the originally published form in italics in the "Originally As" column. Where the literature clearly indicates that the epithet refers to a hybrid, the complete epithet is enclosed within single quotes and each word begins with a capital letter ('Odorata Sulphurea', 'Odorata Hermosa'). Where the epithet refers to a selection, form or variant of a currently accepted species but falls within code definitions of a cultivar, it appears as odorata 'Exquisita'. This is applied even though odorata is an accepted species in order to differentiate cultivars from accepted species and subspecies (odorata subsp. tuberosa) and from synonyms of species (odorata var. minor).

Following each valid cultivar name in the list is a capital letter or letters indicating its type when known. TD = Tropical Day Blooming, TDV = Tropical Day Blooming Viviparous, TN = Tropical Night Blooming, TNV = Tropical Night Blooming Viviparous, H = Hardy, HV = Hardy Viviparous, TDI = Tropical Day Blooming Intersubgeneric, HT = Hardy Tropical Intersubgeneric. Each species name is followed by the author and valid species names by the type as above and the subgenus to which they belong. If an image is available it is marked with Im, a gallery of images with ImG, an image gallery with cultivation notes with ImGN. Each entry contains the following underlined abbreviations. Available information follows each code.

De = Description, Registration = Link to WGI Registry, Pa = Parentage, O = Originator, DO = Date of Origin, OA = Originally As, AP = Author of Publication, P = Publication, VNP = Volume, Number, Page, PD = Publication Date, SCN = Synonym, Correction, Notes, Addendum = Additional information linked

This is, of course, a work in a constant state of change. Errors are inevitable and new information is always coming to light. Corrections and additions are welcome and can be sent to kit@victoria-adventure.org .

Many people have contributed information both to this list and its predecessor, the IWGS PCL, and I thank them all. Special thanks to Dr. John Wiersema who always answers my questions so thoroughly; to Walter Pagels for not just being a treasure trove of information but an inspiration for me learn more; and to Piers Trehane, who only sometimes answered my questions but, by not answering, fuels the fire.