Rare Giant Waterlily Identified After Social Media Sighting
Researchers have described a new giant waterlily species, Victoria colombiana, after a horticulturist posted a photo from eastern Colombia on Instagram. A botanist at Kew noticed the plant appeared outside the known range of a similar species, then used satellite imagery and an expedition to find flowering specimens. The newly named plant is believed to have fewer than 50 individuals in the wild and faces a risk of extinction.
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Jeremiah Harris, a horticulturist who sells carnivorous plants and holds a record for the largest Venus flytrap, photographed the plant in eastern Colombia’s Inírida River region. He first called it Victoria amazonica. Kew’s Carlos Magdalena knew that species wasn’t recorded there. Using
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