Water lilies are so stunning and these photos that I took at Kew Gardens in London are no exception. They've got to be the biggest lily-pads that I've ever seen though!
Each Victoria cruziana lily pad measures up to six feet across (the largest on record is a whopping eight feet, nine inches wide) with a lush pink-and-white flower in its center. Its underside is violet, and its rim up to eight inches high. These high rims prevent the leaves from overlapping one another, and keep competing aquatic plants at bay in the tussle for sunlight. Locals know them as “alligator lilies,” as each pad could quite easily shelter a lurking croc.
I will have to post those from the Padua university botanival gardens. OH, beautiful pics by the way.
SW-User
Beautiful 💕
SW-User
I used to row out to the lily pads and pick these extraordinary flowers to take home to my children in the morning. I miss that, but I gotta say...I never saw a lily pad that size. Pheeew!
