Nymphaea belophylla is a species of waterlily native to Bolivia, Brazil and Venezuela.[1]

Nymphaea belophylla
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Order: Nymphaeales
Family: Nymphaeaceae
Genus: Nymphaea
Species:
N. belophylla
Binomial name
Nymphaea belophylla
Trickett[1]

Description

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Vegetative characteristics

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Nymphaea belophylla is an aquatic herb.[2] It has subglobose tubers, which are not stoloniferous.[3] The green, elliptic-sagittate leaves with an acute apex are up to 30 cm long and 11 cm wide.[4] The 4-5 mm wide, non-brittle, green petiole is glabrous.[3]

Generative characteristics

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The flowers of Nymphaea belophylla are floating and nocturnal.[2] The glabrous, green, non-brittle peduncle[3] is up to 5 mm wide.[4] In the original publication, the flowers are describes as inodorous.[3][4][5] In others, the floral fragrance described as sweet and fruity,[6] or as unpleasant and almond-like.[4] The smooth, pilose, ellipsoid seeds exhibit trichomes arranged in continuous longitudinal lines.[2] The seeds are 0.9 mm wide and 0.75 mm wide. The trichomes are 35-90 μm long.[4]

Cytology

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The chromosome count is not known.[4]

Reproduction

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Vegetative reproduction

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Stolons and proliferating pseudanthia are absent.[2][3]

Habitat

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In one instance, it has been found growing in flooded grassland savanna at water depths of 110 cm beneath Tabebuia aurea trees.[7] In another case, it was observed growing in floodplains at water depths of 1.5-2m among the grass species Oryza rufipogon and Paspalum wrightii.[6] In the Pantanal, where it can occur sympatrically with Nymphaea oxypetala,[3] it is found in floodplains and rivers.[8]

Taxonomy

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It was first described by Trickett in 1971 based on plant material cultivated at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The plants had been introduced to cultivation by Amanda Bleher from a specimen collected in Guaporé River, Brazil.[3][5][9]

Type specimen

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The type locality is the Río Guaporé. It seemed that the type material had gone missing,[10][6] however the holotype was later found again. The isotype could still not be located.[3]

Placement within Nymphaea

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It is placed in Nymphaea subg. Hydrocallis.[7][4]

Etymology

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The species name is derived from the Greek βέλος meaning arrow or dart,[5] and -phylla referring to the leaves. It references the strongly pointed, arrow-shaped leaves.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Nymphaea belophylla Trickett". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Pellegrini, M. O. O. & Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. (n.d.-a). Nymphaea belophylla Trickett. Flora E Funga Do Brasil. Retrieved December 3, 2023, from https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/FB139872
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h de Lima, C. T., Machado, I. C., & Giulietti, A. M. (2021). "Nymphaeaceae of Brasil." Sitientibus série Ciências Biológicas, 21.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Wiersema, J. H. (1987). A monograph of Nymphaea subgenus Hydrocallis (Nymphaeaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs, 1-112.
  5. ^ a b c Robert S. Trickett. (1971). A New Tropical American Waterlily, Nymphaea belophylla. Kew Bulletin, 26(1), 29–31. https://doi.org/10.2307/4117321
  6. ^ a b c Ritter, N. P., Crow, G. E., & Wiersema, J. H. (2001). "Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae) in Bolivia: notes on several species, three new country records, and a key to species." Rhodora, 103(915), 326-331.
  7. ^ a b de Andrade Amador, G., Damasceno-Júnior, G. A., da Silva, R. H., Pott, A., & Pott, V. J. (2013). "Nymphaeaceae, Nymphaea belophylla Trickett: new state record." Check List, 9(2), 440-442.
  8. ^ Damasceno-Junior, G. A., & Pott, A. (2022). "Flora and vegetation of the Pantanal Wetland." p. 241. Springer Nature.
  9. ^ Nymphaea belophylla | International Plant Names Index. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://www.ipni.org/n/171170-2
  10. ^ WIERSEMA, J. H. (1984). "A new species of Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae) from the Amazon Basin." SIDA, Contributions to Botany, 195-198.