Andre Leu Photo

New Australian Waterlily Species Named November, 2005 by Andre Leu Click images to enlarge

Dr. Surrey Jacobs and Dr. Barre Hellquist have named three new species of Australian (subgenus Anecphya) waterlilies. The descriptions are expected to be published soon in Telopea, Journal of Plant Systematics, published by the National Herbarium of New South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust.

N. carpentariae Andre Leu Photo	Walter Pagels and I found two of the new species in Normanton, Queensland, in 2000 (see Field Collecting Australian Water Lilies, Expedition 2000-2001) and initially identified them as N. gigantea and N. violacea. Several year ago I suggested that the larger Normanton lilies were a new species (see The Normanton Lilies - A New Species?). They are now called Nymphaea carpentariae after the Gulf of Carpentaria. N. 'Andre Leu' is a cultivar of N. carpentariae.
Andre Leu Photo	< ^ N. carpentariae ^ Julia Leu hoto	N. carpentariae William Phillips Photo
	< The deep pink lily that I found at Normanton and William Phillips later named for me, N. 'Andre Leu', is a selection of N. carpentariae. > < Andre Leu Photo William Phillips Photo >
More than a year later I postulated that a small white lily from Normanton that Walter and I thought was N. violacea was a new species (see Expedition 2002). It is now called Nymphaea alexii. Surrey Jacobs named it after his grandson. I told Surrey and Barre where it could be found earlier this year and, as soon as they saw it, they realised that it was new species. It is only found in two sites.		N. alexii - Andre Leu Photo

They have named a third species N. georginae. Barre and Surrey found this species in the Georgina River in Western Queensland near the Northern Territory Border. It has characteristics of N. carpentariae and N. macrosperma. They are waiting for more DNA work to done, especially for N. violacea. It looks like this will be divided into several new species.