An worldwide crew of scientists has proven that two species of big water lily are literally three, and that the newly found species, at 10.5 ft throughout, is the most important of the bunch.

Introducing Victoria boliviana, a newly described species of big water lily. The freaky-looking plant joins two others on this South American genus, V. amazonica and V. cruziana. The newly described species of big water lily is the primary to be found in over a century, in response to a Kew Gardens press release.

The genus, named for England’s Queen Victoria, was established throughout the early nineteenth century, however scientists initially thought they had been coping with a single species. This oversight was later corrected, ensuing within the creation of two species, V. amazonica and V. cruziana. The new research, revealed in Frontiers in Plant Science, has now yielded a 3rd Victoria species—and it’s a whopper. A specimen of V. boliviana from La Rinconada Gardens in Bolivia encompasses a record-breaking diameter of 10.5 ft (3.2 meters), establishing it as the most important big water lily species on the earth.

Carlos Magdalena, a senior botanical horticulturist at Kew Gardens in England and a co-author of the brand new examine, had suspected {that a} third species may exist. He observed that sure specimens didn’t appear to be both of the 2 identified species, as they featured distinctive leaves, flowers, and seeds.

With these uncertainties in thoughts, Magdalena and his colleagues launched into a examine with the said “goal of improving systematic knowledge of the [Victoria] genus,” because the scientists write of their examine, and to make it occur they delved into historical past, horticulture, and geography, whereas additionally gathering “a morphological dataset using citizen science and specimens from herbaria and living collections,” they write.

The crew, which additionally included botanists from the National Herbarium of Bolivia, studied samples obtained from Santa Cruz de La Sierra Botanic Garden and La Rinconada Gardens, each in Bolivia. They additionally grew seeds from the suspected third species, permitting for a side-by-side comparability with the opposite big lilies.

A lot of key variations had been documented, together with a singular distribution of prickles and seeds that had been in another way formed and sized. DNA samples additional confirmed that V. Boliviana was genetically distinct from the opposite two species, having distinctive molecular markers associated to chloroplasts. Combined, the bodily and genetic proof allowed for the identification of the beforehand ignored species.

The crew additionally got here to the conclusion {that a} specimen belonging to the newly described species had been saved at Kew Gardens since 1845. No one realized it represented a particular species, because it was beforehand mistaken for V. amazonica.

As for the plant itself, Victoria boliviana is native to Bolivia and is present in Llanos de Moxos within the Beni province—one of many world’s largest wetlands. It flowers on a number of events annually, however every flower opens one after the other and for simply two nights, throughout which period its prickly flowers flip from white to pink. It’s a very wonderful and unique sight, displaying the unimaginable organic variety that our planet has to supply, however extra analysis is required, because the scientists write: “Further investigations and surveys are required to better understand the species’ current range, population fluctuations and habitat and thus better predict the impacts of the threats identified.”

More: This Freaky Plant Has an Incredible Trick For Luring in Flies.