Giant Waterlily

Suitable for: Early Primary – Primary
Giant Waterlily icon

Giant Waterlily

Water & Wetland Plant
Giant Waterlily
Giant Waterlily

An Amazon waterlily whose table-sized floating pads can hold a small child — and whose ribs inspired the Crystal Palace.

💡 Fun Facts

  • Its floating leaf pads are as big as a dinner table and strong enough to hold a small child.
  • The pattern of ribs under its giant leaves inspired the roof of the Crystal Palace in 1851.
  • Its flowers open white at night, trap a beetle, then turn pink and let it go the next night covered in pollen.

📅 Through the Year

  • Flowering:July to September
Name Story

Victoria amazonica

means “Victoria's waterlily, of the Amazon”

What does its name mean?
  • Victoria — after Queen Victoriaa person's name
  • amazonica — of the Amazon, where it growsLatin place-name

Half of this name honours a person — Queen Victoria — and half tells you where it lives: the still backwaters of the great River Amazon. Its vast leaves, with up-turned rims like giant floating tea-trays, can grow nearly as wide as a small boat.

🎴 Field Research Data Cards

Picture
Units

Giant Waterlily

S
Giant Waterlily
PollinationBeetles — the white night-flower traps a beetle, then turns pink and releases it the next night dusted with pollen
Seed DispersalWater — seeds float, then sink and spread along the river
DefencesSharp spines cover the leaf underside and stalks (to deter fish)
Special AbilityA giant circular leaf, braced by a radiating framework of ribs, spreads its weight across the water
Flowering SeasonFlowers at night through the warm season; each bloom lasts about two nights
Seeds / YearHundreds of seeds per fruit
Human UsesA botanic showpiece; its leaf-rib structure inspired Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace — a famous example of biomimicry
Record TraitLargest leaf of any waterlily — floating pads up to about 3 m across, able to bear tens of kilograms