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Kew Gardens Announces New Giant Waterlily Species

Head gardener Petra Putova, at the Liberec Botanical Garden in the Czech Republic, shows the smallest water lily in the world, Nymphaea thermarum, next to the largest, the giant Amazonian water lily (Victoria amazonica). PHOTOGRAPH BY RADEK PETRASEK, CTK/AP IMAGES
Head gardener Petra Putova, at the Liberec Botanical Garden in the Czech Republic, shows the smallest water lily in the world, Nymphaea thermarum, next to the largest, the giant Amazonian water lily (Victoria amazonica). PHOTOGRAPH BY RADEK PETRASEK, CTK/AP IMAGES
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Kew Gardens Announces New Giant Waterlily Species

Head gardener Petra Putova, at the Liberec Botanical Garden in the Czech Republic, shows the smallest water lily in the world, Nymphaea thermarum, next to the largest, the giant Amazonian water lily (Victoria amazonica). PHOTOGRAPH BY RADEK PETRASEK, CTK/AP IMAGES
Head gardener Petra Putova, at the Liberec Botanical Garden in the Czech Republic, shows the smallest water lily in the world, Nymphaea thermarum, next to the largest, the giant Amazonian water lily (Victoria amazonica). PHOTOGRAPH BY RADEK PETRASEK, CTK/AP IMAGES

Experts at London's Kew Gardens on Monday revealed they have discovered the first new giant waterlily species since the mid-19th century -- after it was initially mistaken for another.

Specimens of the new species had lain undiscovered at the botanical garden for 177 years and in the National Herbarium of Bolivia for 34 years, AFP said.

It had been thought they were from the "Victoria amazonica", one of the two known varieties of giant waterlilies whose genus was named after queen Victoria in 1852.

But their true identity was revealed after experts at Kew worked with a team from the Latin American country to establish they were in fact a third variety.

As well as being the newest species of giant waterlily, "Victoria boliviana", whose leaves grow as wide as three meters in the wild, is also the largest in the world.

A paper detailing the years of detective work is outlined in a paper in the journal Frontiers in Plant Sciences, published on Monday.

Seeds from the suspected third giant waterlily species were donated by Santa Cruz de La Sierra Botanic Garden and La Rinconada Gardens in Bolivia.

Botanical artist Lucy Smith said they had been growing -- unlabeled -- in a glasshouse at Kew for the last four years.

"A few people have asked, why does this one look so different from the others? But we've had to say, well, we think it's similar to this or similar to that," she told AFP.

"So in fact, we've had this wonderful secret hiding in plain sight all this time."

Carlos Magdalena, a research horticulturalist who specializes in saving plant species that are near extinction, described the plant as "one of the botanical wonders of the world".

Magdalena said some 2,000 new plant species are identified every year but he added: "What I think is very unusual is a plant (this) size with this level of fame to be discovered in the year 2022.

"That is quite unusual. It also highlights how many things could be out there.

"It really highlights how little we know in the end about our natural world."

Giant waterlilies bloom and turn from white to pink at night.

"Victoria boliviana" is named in honor of the Bolivian partners on the team and the plant's natural ecosystem.

Kew is the only place in the world where all three species of the Victoria genus -- "amazonica", "cruziana" and now "boliviana" -- can be seen side by side.

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Albatross Couple Shares Egg Duty in Captivating Low-drama Reality Show

Conservation rangers Sharyn Broni, left, and Colin Facer weigh an albatross at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand on June 18, 2024. (Michael Hayward/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)
Conservation rangers Sharyn Broni, left, and Colin Facer weigh an albatross at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand on June 18, 2024. (Michael Hayward/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)
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Albatross Couple Shares Egg Duty in Captivating Low-drama Reality Show

Conservation rangers Sharyn Broni, left, and Colin Facer weigh an albatross at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand on June 18, 2024. (Michael Hayward/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)
Conservation rangers Sharyn Broni, left, and Colin Facer weigh an albatross at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand on June 18, 2024. (Michael Hayward/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)

It’s a reality show about a loving couple waiting to welcome their new arrival, watched by thousands of ardent fans. But the stars of Royal Cam, now in its 10th season, aren’t socialites or hopefuls in love but northern royal albatrosses — majestic New Zealand seabirds with 10-foot (3-meter) wingspans.
The 24-hour livestream of the birds’ breeding season at Taiaroa Head — a rugged headland on New Zealand’s South Island — was established to raise awareness of the vulnerable species, numbers of which have grown slowly over decades of painstaking conservation measures, The Associated Press reported.
Millions have watched the stream since it began in 2016.
“Before that, it was very difficult to follow an albatross’ life cycle because they’re only on land 15% of the time,” said Sharyn Broni, a Department of Conservation ranger who has worked with the birds for nearly three decades. “You’d have to travel a long way to see one.”
But Royal Cam's popularity exploded during the coronavirus pandemic. On a busy comments page hosted by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, devoted fans track the birds’ locations on an app, discuss significant moments and even create art inspired by the albatross.
Drama-free reality TV The show's premise is simple: Each season, conservation rangers select an albatross couple as that year’s stars. A camera on the remote headland follows the chosen birds as they lay and incubate an egg, before their chick hatches around February, grows to adult size, and finally takes flight.
Unlike human reality shows, drama is rare: Royal albatrosses usually mate for life. Rangers selecting the birds to follow each “season” avoid anything controversial: no first-time parents and no aggressive or grumpy personalities.
This year’s stars are RLK, a 12-year-old male, and GLG, a 14-year-old female, who have raised two chicks before. Their names are derived from the colors on bands that rangers attach to their legs.
“They’re a youngish pair, but not so young that they don’t know what they’re doing,” Broni said.
Action unfolds slowly, which for many fans is the joy of it. Clouds drift by, ships pass in the distance and the sun sets in glowing pinks and peaches. During January, incubation season, an albatross sits on an egg.
But regular watchers anticipate certain moments: About once every 10 days, the second bird in the pair returns from feeding at sea to relieve the parent looking after the nest. Other fan highlights include albatross crash landings, mating dances and the appearances of rangers or the feathered stars of previous seasons.
Fans become friends France Pillière, an artist who lives in Montreal, has never visited New Zealand. But during the pandemic she discovered Royal Cam, fell in love with the “mysterious” creatures, and became a daily viewer.
“You see the birds and all their adventures and their lives, struggling to raise their chicks,” she said.
Pillière stayed, too, for the global community of posters. Unlike much of the internet, the nearly 75,000 comments on the Royal Cam viewing page are uniformly encouraging and educational.
“We care about these people,” Pillière said of her fellow posters. “If one is on a flight to New Zealand, everyone is waiting to hear their comments.”
A conservation success story under threat The past two breeding seasons were the birds’ most successful ever, with 33 chicks each year. There are more than 60 breeding pairs at the colony — conservation measures began in 1937 with one pair.
Progress is unhurried because the northern royal albatross lives long and slowly; after their first flight, chicks stay at sea for 4 to 10 years — traveling up to 118,000 miles a year — then spend about three years choosing a mate. They live until around 40.
The New Zealand mainland colony — one of four sites — is home to 1% of the 17,000 birds worldwide. While breeding measures have proved a success, Broni said, the birds are more threatened than before by plastic pollution, fisheries and warming seas.
Pillière said the death of a chick from ingesting plastic in 2023 had prompted her to drastically reduce her household’s plastic use. The royal albatross has also crept into her work as a sculptor of animals.