141.101.98.147: /* External links */

2022-10-07T15:40:58Z

External links

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:10, 7 October 2022
Line 39:		Line 39:
	[[Category:Plants described in 1988]]		[[Category:Plants described in 1988]]
	[[Category:Endemic flora of Rwanda]]		[[Category:Endemic flora of Rwanda]]
			[[Category:State symbols of Rwanda]]

193.190.112.194: robot: create new article

2022-09-16T07:28:51Z

robot: create new article

New page

{{Short description|Species of water lily}}
{{Speciesbox
|status = EW
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|image = Nymphaea thermarum-IMG 5505.jpg
|genus = Nymphaea
|parent = Nymphaea subg. Brachyceras
|species = thermarum
|authority = [[Eberhard Fischer (botanist)|Eb.Fisch.]]
}}

'''''Nymphaea thermarum''''' is the world's smallest water lily yet discovered. The pads (leaves) of ''N. thermarum'' can measure only {{cvt|1|cm|in}} across, less than 10% the width of the next smallest species in the genus ''[[Nymphaea]]'' (though they are more usually about {{cvt|2|cm|in}} or {{cvt|3|cm|in}}). By comparison, the [[Victoria amazonica|largest water lily]] has pads that can reach {{cvt|3|m|ft}}. All wild plants were lost due to destruction of its native habitat, but it was saved from extinction when it was grown from seed at the [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] in 2009.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10124250.stm|title=Waterlily saved from extinction|last=Ghosh|first=Pallab|date=2010-05-18|work=BBC News|access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref><ref name="WGI">{{cite journal|last=Magdalena|first=Carlos|date=November 2009|title=The world's tiniest waterlily doesn't grow in water! |journal=Water Gardeners International |volume=4 |issue=4 |url=http://www.watergardenersinternational.org/journal/4-4/carlos/thermarum_gallery1.html |access-date=2010-05-19}}</ref> In January 2014, a surviving water lily was stolen from the Royal Botanic Gardens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itv.com/news/london/2014-01-13/worlds-smallest-waterlily-stolen-after-being-dug-up/ |title=World's smallest waterlily stolen after being dug up |publisher=[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] |date=2014-01-13 |access-date=2014-01-13}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
''Nymphaea thermarum'' was discovered in 1987 by German botanist Eberhard Fischer. The specific epithet, ''thermarum'', refers to the hot spring and temperature that provided its native habitat. There are no common names for the plant, though Kew Gardens is informally calling it "pygmy Rwandan water lily".<ref name="Kew" /><ref name="Fischer">{{cite journal|last=Fischer|first=Eberhard|year=1993|title=Taxonomic results of the BRYOTROP-Expedition to Zaire and Rwanda|journal=Tropical Bryology|volume=8|pages=13–37|url=http://tropical-bryology.org/Articles/open/VOL8/fischer.pdf|access-date=2010-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306191741/http://tropical-bryology.org/Articles/open/VOL8/fischer.pdf|archive-date=2012-03-06|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Description==
''Nymphaea thermarum'' forms rosettes {{cvt|20|to|30|cm|in}} wide, with bright green lily pads growing on short petioles. The very small flowers are white with yellow stamens, with the flowers held upright a few cm above the plant. They can self-pollinate, and after blooming the flower stalk bends so the fruit contacts the mud.<ref name="Kew">{{cite web|url=http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Nymphaea-thermarum.htm|title=Nymphaea thermarum|last=Magdalena|first=Carlos|work=Plants & Fungi|publisher=Kew Gardens|access-date=19 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523083311/http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Nymphaea-thermarum.htm|archive-date=23 May 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The sepals are slightly hairy, and as large as the flower's petals. The plant is a tropical day bloomer displaying [[protogyny|protogynous]] flowering patterns, opening early in the morning on the first day with female floral functioning, closing in early afternoon, and opening on the second day with male functionality.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Povilus|first1=RA|last2=Losada|first2=JM|last3=Friedman|first3=WE|title=Floral biology and ovule and seed ontogeny of Nymphaea thermarum, a water lily at the brink of extinction with potential as a model system for basal angiosperms|journal=Annals of Botany|date=2015|volume=115|issue=2|pages=211–226|doi=10.1093/aob/mcu235|pmid=25497514|pmc=4551091}}</ref> It is in the ''Nymphaea'' subgenus ''Brachyceras'', though the leaves are more typical of the subgenus ''Nymphaea''. It apparently does not form tubers. Seeds are large for plants in subgenus ''Brachyceras''.<ref name="WGI" />

==History==
The plant's native habitat was damp mud formed by the overflow of a freshwater hot spring in Mashyuza, [[Rwanda]]. It became extinct in the wild about 2008 when local farmers began using the spring for agriculture.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-05-19|title=Smallest waterlily in the world saved from extinction – by Kew Gardens|url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/may/19/thermal-waterlily-smallest-kew-gardens|access-date=2021-11-15|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The farmers cut off the flow of the spring, which dried up the tiny area—just a few square metres—that was the lily's entire habitat.<ref name="Kew" /> Before the plants became extinct, Fischer sent some specimens to [[Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn|Bonn Botanic Gardens]] when he saw that their habitat was so fragile. The plants were kept alive at the gardens, but botanists could not solve the problem of propagating them from seed.<ref name="Independent">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/smallest-lily-saved-from-extinction-1976449.html |title=Smallest lily saved from extinction |last=McCarthy |first=Michael |date=2010-05-19 |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London |access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref>

The first published occurrence of ''N. thermarum'' germination was by Carlos Magdalena, at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.<ref name="WGI" /> By placing the seeds and seedlings into pots of [[loam]] surrounded by water of the same level in a {{cvt|25|C}} environment, eight began to flourish and mature within weeks and in November 2009, the waterlilies flowered for the first time.<ref>[http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/extinct-waterlily-back-from-the-dead.htm/ "'Extinct' Waterlily back from the dead"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716104717/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/extinct-waterlily-back-from-the-dead.htm/ |date=2011-07-16 }}, ''[[Australian Geographic]]'', May 21, 2010.</ref> During this time, a rat had eaten one of the last two surviving plants in Germany. With the germination problem solved, Magdalena says that the tiny plants are easy to grow, giving it potential to be grown as a houseplant.<ref name="Times">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7130157.ece |title=World's smallest water lily comes from Rwanda to your window sill |last=Smyth |first=Chris |date=2010-05-19 |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikispecies}}
* {{ARKive|3=Pygmy Rwandan waterlily}}
* [http://www.watergardenersinternational.org/journal/4-4/carlos/thermarum_gallery1.html The world's tiniest waterlily doesn't grow in water!] by Carlos Magdalena
* {{cite journal|last=Fischer|first=Eberhard|year=1993|title=Taxonomic results of the BRYOTROP-Expedition to Zaire and Rwanda|journal=Tropical Bryology|volume=8|pages=13–37|url=http://tropical-bryology.org/Articles/open/VOL8/fischer.pdf|access-date=2010-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306191741/http://tropical-bryology.org/Articles/open/VOL8/fischer.pdf|archive-date=2012-03-06|url-status=dead}}
* [http://www.ipni.org:80/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do;jsessionid=18391B28FC07672A5D87B257AED05001?id=936393-1 International Plant Names Index]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2714323}}

[[Category:Nymphaea|thermarum]]
[[Category:Plants extinct in the wild]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1988]]
[[Category:Endemic flora of Rwanda]]

Nymphaea thermarum - Revision history

141.101.98.147: /* External links */

193.190.112.194: robot: create new article