"Victoria Boliviana" leaves grow to 3 metres

The discovery of a new species of giant water lilies

Specimens of the new type of tulip have been undiscovered in Kew Gardens for 177 years.

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Experts at Kew Gardens in London announced yesterday that they have discovered a new species of giant water lily since the mid-19th century, after it was believed to be another species.

Specimens of this new species of lily remained undiscovered in Kew Gardens for 177 years, and in the National Park in Bolivia for 34 years.

It was thought that these lilies were of the type "Victoria Amazonica", one of the two known species of giant water lilies whose genus was named after Queen Victoria in 1852.

But its actual species was discovered after experts at Kew worked with a team from Bolivia to prove that it was, in fact, a third species.

In addition to being the latest species of giant water lilies, the "Victoria Boliviana", whose leaves grow up to three meters in the wild, is also the largest in the world, according to a research paper published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Sciences.

For his part, Carlos Magdalena, a researcher specializing in saving plant species on the verge of extinction, described this water lily as "one of the botanical wonders of the world."

Giant water lilies bloom at night, turning from white to pink.

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