NEWS102
20
Theadventitiousplantletsof
Nymphaeaxdaubenyana
flower readilyeven though theyhavehardlyany leavesof their own.
all photos:FrankSchäfer
ccording to mythology, the first
waterlily sprang from the dead body
of a nymph who died of jealousy towards
Hercules.
Waterlilies inthepondandtheaquarium
Althoughwaterliliesareverycommon in the
wild are and their gorgeous flowers have
long fascinated humans, they entered
cultivation comparatively late on. It was
probably the winter-hardy EuropeanWhite
Waterlily,
Nymphaea alba
, widespread in
Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, that was
first cultivated in garden ponds. Not until
A
Waterlilies are fabulous plants that have long stimulated the imagination
of humans.This is also reflected in the scientific genus nameNymphaea.
Nymphs were minor deities in the mythology of ancient Greece and
Rome,spiritsofNature thatwereoftenhelpful tohumans.Unlike theGods
theywere regardedasmortal.
A livebearing
waterlily
bySarahNieten
around 1800 were other species also
recognized as being suitable as garden
plants, and around themiddle of the 19th
century greenhouses for the cultivation of
waterlilies sprangupall over Europe so that
people could grow and exhibit the
sensational
Victoria regia
,theGiantWaterlily.
At the same time people began to
experimentwithcrossing species,andevery
year colorful new hybrids appeared on the
market. Probably nobody knows precisely
howmany cultivars there are in existence
nowadays,but itmustbewellover600.There
are40species in thewild.
Itwasn’tuntilmuch later thatwaterlilieswere
discovered as aquarium plants. Even Albert
Wendt wrote in his classic work Die
Aquarienpflanzen inWortundBild(Aquarium
plants inwordsandpictures)(1952-1955)that
littlepleasurewastobehadfromwaterlilies in
the aquarium, as they grew far too large,
needed a lot of light, and the rich substrate
required for their optimal development
Plants
