Nymphaea

File:Nymphaea_leaf_cross-section.jpg micrograph of a cross-section of a floating leaf of Nymphaea alba.
{{hlist|E1: upper epiderm |E2: lower epiderm |P: palisade mesophyll |M: spongy mesophyll |B: vascular bundle |I: intercellular gap |S: sclerenchyma}}]]

File:Nymphaea cf. gardneriana Planch.jpg Planch. with several floating leaves, as well as submerged leaves with scale bar (50 cm) on a white background]]

File:Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea (Savigny) Verdc. complete specimen.jpg (Savigny) Verdc. with scale bar (50 cm) on a white background]]

File:Rhizome of Nymphaea gigantea "Albert De Lestang".jpg "Albert De Lestang" with scale bar (5 cm) against a grey background]]

File:Nymphaea alba sl72.jpg with scale bar (3 mm) against a grey background]]

File:Nymphaea alba sl71.jpg

File:Nymphaea alba sl58.jpg

File:Nymphaea prolifera Wiersema proliferating pseudanthium.jpg Wiersema]]

File:Nymphaea lotus var. thermalis (DC.) Tuzson leaf.jpg

Water lilies are aquatic, rhizomatous or tuberous, perennial or annual herbsWestern Australian Herbarium & Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. (n.d.). Nymphaea L. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora. Retrieved November 26, 2024, from https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/21429 with sometimes desiccation-tolerant, branched or unbranched rhizomes,Nymphaea Linnaeus. (n.d.). Flora of China @ efloras.org. Retrieved November 26, 2024, from http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=122531 which can be stoloniferous, or lacking stolons. The tuberous or fibrous roots are contractile.Pellegrini, M.O.O. Nymphaeaceae in Flora e Funga do Brasil. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. Disponível em: https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/FB10936 Acesso em: 27 Nov. 2024 The leaves are mostly floating,Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. (n.d.). Nymphaea. VicFlora Flora of Victoria. Retrieved November 26, 2024, from https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/cb56044c-3244-4b72-ad90-e9db471241b2 but submerged and emergent leaves occur as well.Conard, Henry S. (1905). The waterlilies: a monograph of the genus Nymphaea. Pub. by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108991 The shape of the lamina can be ovate, orbicular,Nymphaea L. (n.d.). Flora of Pakistan @ efloras.org. Retrieved November 26, 2024, from http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=122531 elliptic, hastate, or sagittate.Robert S. Trickett. (1971). A New Tropical American Waterlily, Nymphaea belophylla. Kew Bulletin, 26(1), 29–31. https://doi.org/10.2307/4117321 The width of the lamina ranges in size from 2.5–3 cmFischer, E. (1988), Beiträge zur Flora Zentralafrikas. I. Eine neue Nymphaea sowie ein neuer Streptocarpus aus Rwanda. Feddes Repertorium, 99: 385-390. to 40–60 cm. The lamina has a deep sinus and the basal lobes can be overlapping or divergent. The margin of the lamina can be entire, dentate, or sinuate.S.W.L. Jacobs & C.L. Porter. Nymphaea, in (ed.), Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Nymphaea [Date Accessed: 27 November 2024] The leaves can be stipulate, or exstipulate. The petioles are a few centimetres to 5–6 m long, and 0.3–1.9 cm wide.

The flowers are emergent, floating, or rarely submerged.Landon, K., Edwards, R. A., & Nozaic, P. I. (2006). [http://aquaria.palo-alto.ca.us/plants/n/Nymphaea/minuta/Nympaeae_minutae.pdf A new species of waterlily (Nymphaea minuta: Nymphaeaceae) from Madagascar.] SIDA, Contributions to Botany, 887-893. The diurnal or nocturnal, chasmogamous or rarely cleistogamous, solitary, hermaphrodite, entomophilous, fragrant or inodorous flowersWiersema, J. H. (1988). Reproductive Biology of Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 75(3), 795–804. https://doi.org/10.2307/2399367 are mostly protogynous. The flowers have (3–)4(–5) green, sometimes spotted sepals, and about 6–50 lanceolate to spathulate, differently coloured petals, which are often gradually transitioning into the shape of the stamens. The gap between petals and stamens can be present or absent. The androecium consists of 20–750 stamens. The stamens can be petaloid or not petal-like. The gynoecium consists of 5–35 carpels. The carpels usually possess a sterile appendage. The globose, fleshy, spongy, irregularly dehiscent fruit, borne on a terete, glabrous or pubescent, curved or coiled peduncle, bears arillate, globose to elliptic, hairy or glabrous seeds with a smooth surface or longitudinal ridges. Proliferating pseudanthia or tuberous flowers (i.e., sterile, branching, proliferating floral structures for vegetative propagationGrob, V., Moline, P., Pfeifer, E., Novelo, A. R., & Rutishauser, R. (2006). [https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/156395/1/ZORA_NL_156395.pdf Developmental morphology of branching flowers in Nymphaea prolifera.] Journal of Plant Research, 119, 561-570.) can be present or absent.de Lima, C. T., Machado, I. C., & Giulietti, A. M. (2021). [http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sitientibusBiologia/article/download/4986/5243 Nymphaeaceae of Brasil.] Sitientibus série Ciências Biológicas, 21.Wiersema, J. H. (1987). A Monograph of Nymphaea Subgenus Hydrocallis (Nymphaeaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs, 16, 1–112. https://doi.org/10.2307/25027681

Various ploidy levels have been observed in Nymphaea: 2x, 3x, 4x, 6x, 8x, and 16x. The chromosome count ranges from 28 to 224.Pellicer, J., Kelly, L. J., Magdalena, C., & Leitch, I. J. (2013). [https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/gen-2013-0039 Insights into the dynamics of genome size and chromosome evolution in the early diverging angiosperm lineage Nymphaeales (water lilies).] Genome, 56(8), 437-449.

The genus Nymphaea L. was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It has three synonyms: Castalia Salisb. published by Richard Anthony Salisbury in 1805, Leuconymphaea Kuntze published by Otto Kuntze in 1891, and Ondinea Hartog published by Cornelis den Hartog in 1970. The type species is Nymphaea alba L.

The genus Nymphaea has been divided into several subgenera:

• Nymphaea subg. Anecphya (Casp.) Conard{{Cite web |title=Nymphaea subgen. Anecphya {{!}} International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/133996-3 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.ipni.org}}
• Nymphaea subg. Brachyceras (Casp.) Conard{{Cite web |title=Nymphaea subgen. Brachyceras {{!}} International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/77303968-1 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.ipni.org}}
• Nymphaea subg. Confluentes S.W.L.Jacobs{{Cite web |title=Nymphaea subgen. Confluentes {{!}} International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/77081992-1 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.ipni.org}}
• Nymphaea subg. Hydrocallis (Planch.) Conard{{Cite web |title=Nymphaea subgen. Hydrocallis {{!}} International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/77303969-1 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.ipni.org}}
• Nymphaea subg. Lotos (DC.) Conard{{Cite web |title=Nymphaea subgen. Lotos {{!}} International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/77303970-1 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.ipni.org}}
• Nymphaea subg. Nymphaea (autonym)Nymphaea subg. Nymphaea. (n.d.). Australian National Species List (auNSL). Retrieved February 23, 2025, from https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/name/apni/212035

The subgenus Nymphaea subg. Nymphaea has been divided into sections:

• Nymphaea sect. Chamaenymphaea (Planch.) Wiersema{{Cite web |title=Nymphaea sect. Chamaenymphaea {{!}} International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/994069-1 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.ipni.org}}
• Nymphaea sect. Nymphaea (autonym)
• Nymphaea sect. Xanthantha (Casp.) Wiersema{{Cite web |title=Nymphaea sect. Xanthantha {{!}} International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/1194152-2 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.ipni.org}}

As of January 2024, there are 65 accepted species by Plants of the World Online:

{{Div col}}

• Nymphaea abhayana {{small|A.Chowdhury & M.Chowdhury}}
• Nymphaea alba {{small|L.}}
• Nymphaea alexii {{small|S.W.L.Jacobs & Hellq.}}
• Nymphaea amazonum {{small|Mart. & Zucc.}}
• Nymphaea ampla {{small|(Salisb.) DC.}}
• Nymphaea atrans {{small|S.W.L.Jacobs}}
• Nymphaea belophylla {{small|Trickett}}
• Nymphaea × borealis {{small|E.G.Camus}}
• Nymphaea caatingae {{small|C.T.Lima & Giul.}}
• Nymphaea candida {{small|C.Presl}}
• Nymphaea carpentariae {{small|S.W.L.Jacobs & Hellq.}}
• Nymphaea conardii {{small|Wiersema}}
• Nymphaea × daubenyana {{small|W.T.Baxter ex Daubeny}}
• Nymphaea dimorpha {{small|I.M.Turner}}
• Nymphaea divaricata {{small|Hutch.}}
• Nymphaea elegans {{small|Hook.}}
• Nymphaea elleniae {{small|S.W.L.Jacobs}}
• Nymphaea francae {{small|C.T.Lima & Giul.}}
• Nymphaea gardneriana {{small|Planch.}}
• Nymphaea georginae {{small|S.W.L.Jacobs & Hellq.}}
• Nymphaea gigantea {{small|Hook.}}
• Nymphaea glandulifera {{small|Rodschied}}
• Nymphaea gracilis {{small|Zucc.}}
• Nymphaea guineensis {{small|Schumach. & Thonn.}}
• Nymphaea harleyi {{small|C.T.Lima & Giul.}}
• Nymphaea hastifolia {{small|Domin}}
• Nymphaea heudelotii {{small|Planch.}}
• Nymphaea immutabilis {{small|S.W.L.Jacobs}}
• Nymphaea jacobsii {{small|Hellq.}}
• Nymphaea jamesoniana {{small|Planch.}}
• Nymphaea kakaduensis {{small|Hellq., A.Leu & M.L.Moody}}
• Nymphaea kimberleyensis {{small|(S.W.L.Jacobs) S.W.L.Jacobs & Hellq.}}
• Nymphaea lasiophylla {{small|Mart. & Zucc.}}
• Nymphaea leibergii {{small|(Morong) Rydb.}}
• Nymphaea lingulata {{small|Wiersema}}
• Nymphaea loriana {{small|Wiersema, Hellq. & Borsch}}
• Nymphaea lotus {{small|L.}}
• Nymphaea lukei {{small|S.W.L.Jacobs & Hellq.}}
• Nymphaea macrosperma {{small|Merr. & L.M.Perry}}
• Nymphaea maculata {{small|Schumach. & Thonn.}}
• Nymphaea manipurensis {{small|Asharani & Biseshwori}}
• Nymphaea mexicana {{small|Zucc.}}
• Nymphaea micrantha {{small|Guill. & Perr.}}
• Nymphaea noelae {{small|S.W.L.Jacobs & Hellq.}}
• Nymphaea nouchali {{small|Burm.f.}}
• Nymphaea novogranatensis {{small|Wiersema}}
• Nymphaea odorata {{small|Aiton}}
• Nymphaea ondinea {{small|Löhne, Wiersema & Borsch}}
• Nymphaea oxypetala {{small|Planch.}}
• Nymphaea paganuccii {{small|C.T.Lima & Giul.}}
• Nymphaea pedersenii {{small|(Wiersema) C.T.Lima & Giul.}}
• Nymphaea potamophila {{small|Wiersema}}
• Nymphaea prolifera {{small|Wiersema}}
• Nymphaea pubescens {{small|Willd.}}
• Nymphaea pulchella {{small|DC.}}
• Nymphaea rapinii {{small|C.T.Lima & Giul.}}
• Nymphaea rubra {{small|Roxb. ex Andrews}}
• Nymphaea rudgeana {{small|G.Mey.}}
• Nymphaea siamensis {{small|Puripany.}}
• Nymphaea stuhlmannii {{small|(Engl.) Schweinf. & Gilg}}
• Nymphaea sulphurea {{small|Gilg}}
• Nymphaea × sundvikii {{small|Hiitonen}}
• Nymphaea tenuinervia {{small|Casp.}}
• Nymphaea tetragona {{small|Georgi}}
• Nymphaea thermarum {{small|Eb.Fisch.}}
• Nymphaea × thiona {{small|D.B.Ward}}
• Nymphaea vanildae {{small|C.T.Lima & Giul.}}
• Nymphaea vaporalis {{small|S.W.L.Jacobs & Hellq.}}
• Nymphaea violacea {{small|Lehm.}}

{{Div col end}}

• †Nymphaea brongniartii {{au|(Caspary) Saporta}}Butzmann, R., & Fischer, T. C. (2013). [https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/19017/1/zitteliana_2013_53_08.pdf "Fossil water lily fruits with seeds Nymphaea subgenus Lotos, from the Oligocene of Armissan/Narbonne (France)."] Zitteliana, 93-104.
• †Nymphaea haeringiana {{au|(Unger) Butzm., T.C. Fisch., E. Rieber}}Butzmann, R., Fischer, T. C., & Rieber, E. (2009). [https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/11981/1/zitteliana_2009_48_49_10.pdf Makroflora aus dem inneralpinen Fächerdelta der Häring-Formation (Rupelium) vom Duxer Köpfl bei Kufstein/Unterinntal, Österreich.] Zitteliana, 129-163.Nymphaea haeringiana (Unger) Butzm., T.C. Fisch., E. Rieber. (n.d.). The International Fossil Plant Names Index (IFPNI). Retrieved February 23, 2025, from https://www.ifpni.org/species.htm?id=85E65EC8-3883-78C6-160C-04A2E29D02B9
• †Nymphaea minuta {{au|Saporta}}de Saporta, G. (1891). [https://patrimoine.sorbonne-universite.fr/idviewer/2850/14 Recherches sur la végétation du niveau aquitanien de Manosque.] pp. 13–14. Librairie polytechnique.

The genus Nymphaea may be paraphyletic in its current circumscription, as the genera Euryale and Victoria have been placed within the genus Nymphaea in several studies.Song, W., Shi, W., Wang, H., Zhang, Z., Tao, R., Liu, J., ... & Shi, C. (2024). [https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s42995-024-00242-0.pdf Comparative analysis of 12 water lily plastid genomes reveals genomic divergence and evolutionary relationships in early flowering plants.] Marine Life Science & Technology, 6(3), 425-441.Löhne, C., Yoo, M., Borsch, T., Wiersema, J., Wilde, V., Bell, C.D., Barthlott, W., Soltis, D.E. and Soltis, P.S. (2008), [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tax.574008 Biogeography of Nymphaeales: extant patterns and historical events.] Taxon, 57: 1123-19E.He, D., Gichira, A. W., Li, Z., Nzei, J. M., Guo, Y., Wang, Q., & Chen, J. (2018). [https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/19/12/3780/pdf Intergeneric relationships within the early-diverging angiosperm family Nymphaeaceae based on chloroplast phylogenomics.] International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(12), 3780.Loehne, C., Borsch, T., & Wiersema, J. H. (2007). [https://www.academia.edu/download/51262688/Phylogenetic_analysis_of_Nymphaeales_usi20170109-5216-8psonq.pdf Phylogenetic analysis of Nymphaeales using fast-evolving and noncoding chloroplast markers.] Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 154(2), 141-163.Roestel, J. A., Wiersema, J. H., Jansen, R. K., Borsch, T., & Gruenstaeudl, M. (2024). [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cla.12584 On the importance of sequence alignment inspections in plastid phylogenomics–an example from revisiting the relationships of the water‐lilies.] Cladistics.

Nymphaea occurs in freshwater,Parveen, S., Kaur, S., Baishya, R., & Goel, S. (2022). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Seema-Parveen-3/publication/364241722_Predicting_the_potential_suitable_habitats_of_genus_Nymphaea_in_India_using_MaxEnt_modeling/links/63a6e103c3c99660eb9fdf3d/Predicting-the-potential-suitable-habitats-of-genus-Nymphaea-in-India-using-MaxEnt-modeling.pdf Predicting the potential suitable habitats of genus Nymphaea in India using MaxEnt modeling.] Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 194(12), 853. as well as brackish water habitats.Wiersema, J. H., & Haynes, R. R. (1983). Aquatic and Marsh Plants of Alabama III. Magnoliidae. Castanea, 48(2), 99–108. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4033073

Flowers of Nymphaea subg. Hydrocallis are pollinated by Cyclocephala beetles.Maia, A. C. D., de Lima, C. T., Navarro, D. M. D. A. F., Chartier, M., Giulietti, A. M., & Machado, I. C. (2014). [https://www.academia.edu/download/87363769/phytochemistry_1_s2.0_S0031942214001770_main.pdf The floral scents of Nymphaea subg. Hydrocallis (Nymphaeaceae), the New World night-blooming water lilies, and their relation with putative pollinators.] Phytochemistry, 103, 67-75.M Cramer, J., Meeuse, A. D. J., & Teunissen, P. A. (1975). [https://natuurtijdschriften.nl/pub/540103/ABN1975024005013.pdf A note on the pollination of nocturnally flowering species of Nymphaea.] Acta Botanica Neerlandica, 24(5/6), 489-490. Likewise, beetle pollination by Ruteloryctes morio, a member of the same Cyclocephalini tribe, has been reported in Nymphaea subg. Lotos.Hirthe, G., & Porembski, S. (2003). [https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-2003-44717 Pollination of Nymphaea lotus (Nymphaeaceae) by rhinoceros beetles and bees in the northeastern Ivory Coast.] Plant Biology, 5(06), 670-676.Ervik, F., & Knudsen, J. T. (2003). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jette-Knudsen/publication/229644339_Water_lilies_and_scarabs_Faithful_partners_for_100_million_years/links/5d21adc3458515c11c18db9c/Water-lilies-and-scarabs-Faithful-partners-for-100-million-years.pdf Water lilies and scarabs: faithful partners for 100 million years?.] Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 80(3), 539-543.Krell, F. T., Hirthe, G., Seine, R., & Porembski, S. (2003). [https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=17b5a1d0a801289a4b88acecd7f5c76c103a08a3 Rhinoceros beetles pollinate water lilies in Africa (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae; Magnoliidae: Nymphaeaceae).] Ecotropica, 9(1/2), 103-106. The subgenera Nymphaea subg. Anecphya and Nymphaea subg. Brachyceras are pollinated by bees and flies.Chalegre, S. L., Domingos-Melo, A., de Lima, C. T., Giulietti, A. M., & Machado, I. C. (2020). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304377020300772 Nymphaea pulchella (Nymphaeaceae) and Trigona spinipes (Apidae) interaction: from florivory to effective pollination in ponds surrounded by pasture.] Aquatic Botany, 166, 103267. The subgenus Nymphaea subg. Nymphaea is pollinated by bees, flies and beetles.Capperino, M. E., & Schneider, E. L. (1985). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0304377085900221 Floral biology of Nymphaea mexicana Zucc.(Nymphaeaceae).] Aquatic Botany, 23(1), 83-93.

Many birds feed on seeds and fruits of Nymphaea.

Outside of its natural habitat, Nymphaea mexicana and hybrids thereof have become invasive weeds.Reid, M. K., Naidu, P., Paterson, I. D., Mangan, R., & Coetzee, J. A. (2021). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/am/pii/S0304377021000218 Population genetics of invasive and native Nymphaea mexicana Zuccarini: Taking the first steps to initiate a biological control programme in South Africa.] Aquatic Botany, 171, 103372.Reid, M. K., Sutton, G. F., Coetzee, J. A., Gettys, L. A., & Hill, M. P. (2024). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2989/16085914.2024.2341671 Distribution and host preference of a potential biocontrol agent with a new association for the alien water lily Nymphaea mexicana in South Africa.] African Journal of Aquatic Science, 49(2), 132-144.Reid, M. K., Paterson, I. D., Coetzee, J. A., Gettys, L. A., & Hill, M. P. (2023). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964423001445 Know thy enemy: Investigating genetic contributions from putative parents of invasive Nymphaea mexicana hybrids in South Africa as part of efforts to develop biological control.] Biological Control, 184, 105291. It has been proposed to employ the weevil species Bagous longulus as a biocontrol agent against Nymphaea mexicana in South Africa. Invasive horticultural hybrids can pose a threat to Nymphaea species through introgressive hybridisation.Yakandawala, D., & Yakandawala, K. (2011). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kapila-Yakandawala/publication/257367051_Hybridization_between_native_and_invasive_alien_plants_an_overlooked_threat_to_the_biodiversity_of_Sri_Lanka/links/00b49525200887ba44000000/Hybridization-between-native-and-invasive-alien-plants-an-overlooked-threat-to-the-biodiversity-of-Sri-Lanka.pdf Hybridization between native and invasive alien plants: an overlooked threat to the biodiversity of Sri Lanka.] Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Sciences), 40(1). The naturalised hybrids can displace native species and mask their disappearance, as it can be difficult to distinguish between species and naturalised hybrids.Nierbauer, K. U., Kanz, B., & Zizka, G. (2014). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0367253014000085 The widespread naturalisation of Nymphaea hybrids is masking the decline of wild-type Nymphaea alba in Hesse, Germany.] Flora-Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants, 209(2), 122-130.Yakandawala, D., Guruge, S., & Yakandawala, K. (2017). [https://account.jnsfsl.sljol.info/index.php/sljo-j-jnsfsl/article/view/8232/6292 The identity of the violet flowered water lily (Nymphaeaceae) and its hybrid origin in the wetland ecosystems of Sri Lanka.] Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, 45(2).

Several species are in danger of extinction. Nymphaea thermarum is classified as critically endangered (CR),Abeli, T. 2024. [https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/185459/249717119 Nymphaea thermarum.] The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T185459A249717119. Accessed on 29 October 2024. Nymphaea loriana is classified as endangered (EN),Lansdown, R.V. 2017. [https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/81359075/81360324 Nymphaea loriana.] The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T81359075A81360324. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T81359075A81360324.en. Accessed on 29 October 2024. Nymphaea stuhlmannii is classified as endangered (EN),Mollel, N. 2024. [https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/185721/248552468 Nymphaea stuhlmannii.] The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T185721A248552468. Accessed on 29 October 2024. and Nymphaea nouchali var. mutandaensis is also classified as endangered (EN).Luke, W.R.Q., Gereau, R., Beentje, H.J., Kabuye, C., Nshutiyayesu, S. & Ntore, S. 2019. [https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/111322366/111322382 Nymphaea nouchali var. mutandaensis.] The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T111322366A111322382. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T111322366A111322382.en. Accessed on 29 October 2024.

Water lilies are not only decorative, but also provide useful shade which helps reduce the growth of algae in ponds and lakes.{{cite book|title=RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants|year=2008|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=United Kingdom|isbn=978-1405332965|pages=1136}} Many of the water lilies familiar in water gardening are hybrids and cultivars. These cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

• 'Escarboucle'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Nymphaea 'Escarboucle'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/97341/Nymphaea-Escarboucle-(H)/Details | access-date = 16 January 2021}} (orange-red)
• 'Gladstoniana'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Nymphaea 'Gladstoniana'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/120495/Nymphaea-Gladstoniana-(H)/Details | access-date = 16 January 2021}} (double white flowers with prominent yellow stamens)
• 'Gonnère'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Nymphaea 'Gonnere'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/90608/Nymphaea-Gonnere-(H)/Details | access-date = 16 January 2021}} (double white scented flowers)
• 'James Brydon;'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Nymphaea 'James Brydon'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/97523/Nymphaea-James-Brydon-(H)/Details | access-date = 16 January 2021}} (cupped rose-red flowers)
• 'Marliacea Chromatella'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Nymphaea 'Marliacea Chromatella'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/91136/Nymphaea-Marliacea-Chromatella-(H)/Details | access-date = 16 January 2021}} (pale yellow flowers)
• 'Pygmaea Helvola'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Nymphaea 'Pygmaea Helvola'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/70332/Nymphaea-Pygmaea-Helvola-(H)/Details | access-date = 16 January 2021}} (miniature, with cupped fragrant yellow flowers)

{{More citations needed|section|date=June 2022}}

All water lilies are poisonous and contain an alkaloid called nupharin in almost all of their parts.Chapter 10 Nuphar Alkaloids. J.T. Wróbel, The Alkaloids: Chemistry and Physiology, 1967, Volume 9, Pages 441–465, {{doi|10.1016/S1876-0813(08)60206-7}}

In India, it has mostly been eaten as a famine food or as a medicinal (both cooked).{{cite journal |last1=Tiwari |first1=Ashok |title=Nutritional composition and antioxidative stress properties in boiled tuberous rhizome of Neel Kamal (Nymphaea nouchali Burm. f.) |journal=Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources |date=September 2019 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=59–67}}

In Sri Lanka it was formerly eaten as a type of medicine and its price was too high to serve as a normal meal, but in the 1940s or earlier some villagers began to grow water lilies in the paddy fields left uncultivated during the monsoon season (Yala season), and the price dropped. The tubers are called manel here and eaten boiled and in curries.

In West Africa, usage varied between cultures, in the Upper Guinea the rhizomes were only considered famine foods - here the tubers were either roasted in ashes, or dried and ground into a flour. The Buduma people ate the seeds and rhizomes. Some tribes ate the rhizomes raw.

The Hausa people of Ghana, Nigeria and the people of Southern Sudan used the tubers of Nymphaea lotus, the seeds (inside the tubers) are locally referred to as 'gunsi' in Ghana. They are ground into flour.{{cite journal |last1=Adanse |first1=John |last2=Bigson |first2=Kate |last3=Dare |first3=Nyefene Joe |last4=Glago |first4=Patricia |title=Proximate and Functional Properties of Water Lily (Nymphaea Lotus),Coconut (Cocos Nicifera) and Wheat (Titricum Aestivum) Flour Blends |journal=J Food Tech Food Chem |date=2021 |volume=3 |page=104}}

The plants were also said to be eaten in the Philippines. In the 1950s there were no records of leaves or flowers being eaten.[https://www.jstor.org/pss/4115519 FR Irvine, RS Trickett - Water lilies as Food - Kew Bulletin, 1953]

In a North American species, the boiled young leaves and unopened flower buds are said to be edible. The seeds, high in starch, protein, and oil, may be popped, parched, or ground into flour. Potato-like tubers can be collected from the species N. tuberosa (=N. odorata).{{cite book|last=Peterson|first=L. A.|title=A Field Guide to the Wild Edible Plants of Eastern and Central North America.|year=1977|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|location=New York, New York|pages=22}}

Water lilies were said to have been a major food source for a certain tribe of indigenous Australians in 1930, with the flowers and stems eaten raw, while the "roots and seedpods" were cooked either on an open fire or in a ground oven.McConnel, U. H. 1930. ‘The Wik-Munkan Tribe of Cape York Peninsula’. Oceania 1: 97–108

Image:Dynasty 18 jar with support ring REM.JPG jar found at Amarna]]

Tannins extracted from rhizomes are used in dyeing wool a purple-black or brown colour. The peduncles are used as pipes to smoke tobacco.Heslop-Harrison, Y. (1955). Nymphaea L. Journal of Ecology, 43(2), 719–734. https://doi.org/10.2307/2257032

File:Monet - Seerosen 1906.jpg, 1906]]

File:Pälkäne uusi.svg]]

File:Derafsh Kaviani flag of the late Sassanid Empire.svg flag]]

The Ancient Egyptians used the water lilies of the Nile as cultural symbols.{{cite book|last1=Tresidder|first1=Jack|title=The Hutchinson Dictionary of Symbols|date=1997|publisher=Duncan Baird Publishers|location=London|isbn=1-85986-059-1|page=126}} Since 1580 it has become popular in the English language to apply the Latin word lotus, originally used to designate a tree, to the water lilies growing in Egypt, and much later the word was used to translate words in Indian texts.{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/lotus|title=The Origin and Meaning of the word 'Lotus'|last=Harper|first=Douglas|website=Etymology Online|publisher=Douglas Harper |access-date=1 April 2021}} The lotus motif is a frequent feature of temple column architecture.

In Egypt, the lotus, rising from the bottom mud to unfold its petals to the sun, suggested the glory of the sun's own emergence from the primaeval slime. It was a metaphor of creation. It was a symbol of the fertility gods and goddesses as well as a symbol of the upper Nile as the giver of life.

A Roman belief existed that drinking a liquid of crushed Nymphaea in vinegar for 10 consecutive days turned a boy into a eunuch.Marcellus Empiricus, De medicamentis 33.64; compare Pliny the Elder, Natural History 25.75 (37). "There is an herb called nymphaea in Greek, 'Hercules’ club' in Latin, and baditis in Gaulish. Its root, pounded to a paste and drunk in vinegar for ten consecutive days, has the astonishing effect of turning a boy into a eunuch."

A Syrian terra-cotta plaque from the 14th–13th centuries BC shows the goddess Asherah holding two lotus blossoms. An ivory panel from the 9th-8th centuries BC shows the god Horus seated on a lotus blossom, flanked by two cherubs.Dever, W. G. Did God have a Wife? Archeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2008. pp 221, 279.

The French Impressionist painter Claude Monet is known for his many paintings of water lilies in the pond in his garden at Giverny.{{cite web|title=Water Lilies: Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1983.532|website=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=8 March 2015|date=December 2008}}

N. nouchali is the national flower of Bangladesh{{cite web|title=Bangladesh Constitution. Part I, The Republic, 4(3)|url=http://www.pmo.gov.bd/pmolib/constitution/part1.htm|access-date=2013-06-22|archive-date=2013-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204251/http://www.pmo.gov.bd/pmolib/constitution/part1.htm|url-status=dead}} and Sri Lanka.Jayasuriya, M. [http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110417/Plus/plus_06.html Our national flower may soon be a thing of the past.] The Sunday Times April 17, 2011.

Water lilies are also used as ritual narcotics. According to one source, this topic "was the subject of a lecture by William Emboden given at Nash Hall of the Harvard Botanical Museum on the morning of April 6, 1979".{{Cite news|title=The Ethnopharmacology Society Newsletter|date=Spring 1979|issue=4|volume=2}}

File:Nymphaea alba2006-07-06.jpg|Nymphaea alba

File:Nymphaea-colorata 0122a.jpg|Nymphaea nouchali var. zanzibariensis

File:Nymphaeales - Nymphaea gigantea 14.jpg|Nymphaea gigantea

File:Nymphaea nouchali5.JPG|Nymphaea nouchali

File:Attraction.jpg|Nymphaea 'Attraction'

File:Nymphaea Laydekeri Purpurata.jpg|Nymphaea "Laydekeri Purpurata"

File:Nymphaea mexicana (25) 1200.jpg|Nymphaea mexicana

File:Nymphaea capensis (14) 1200.jpg|Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea

File:Unknown Australian waterlily.jpg|Nymphaea sp.

Daubeny's water lily at BBG (50824).jpg|Nymphaea × daubenyana

• Albert de Lestang, propagator and seed collector
• List of plants known as lily

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• Knotts, K. [http://www.victoria-adventure.org/water_gardening/history/first_hybrid_waterlilies.html The first hybrid waterlilies.]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150924124058/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?8329 GRIN Species Records of Nymphaea.]

• Slocum, P. D. Waterlilies and Lotuses. Timber Press. 2005. {{ISBN|0-88192-684-1}} ([https://books.google.com/books?id=V62dfNKTPP0C&pg=PA79&dq=%22Nymphaea+colorata%22&lr=&sig=jbavgQBqVNQuB3sXqTneC9Htz64#PPA79,M1 restricted online version at Google Books])

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Category:Nymphaeales genera

Category:Freshwater plants

Category:Medicinal plants