Victoria cruziana
| Victoria cruziana | |
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| Flower of Victoria cruziana | |
| File:Victoria July 2013-1.jpg | |
| Leaf of a Santa Cruz water lily (Victoria cruziana). Botanical Garden of Helsinki, Finland. | |
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V. cruziana
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| Victoria cruziana |
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Victoria cruziana (Santa Cruz water lily, water platter, yrupe, synonym Victoria argentina Burmeist.) is a tropical species of flowering plant, of the Nymphaeaceae family of water lilies native to South America, primarily Argentina and Paraguay. The plant is a popular water garden plant in botanical gardens where its very large leaves (4-5.5 feet in diameter) can reach their fullest.[1] It can be grown in cooler waters than its sister within the genus, the more familiar giant waterlily, Victoria amazonica.[2] A ten-inch diameter flower blooms for two days, arising from the underwater bud, as a white flower that turns to a deep pink on the second and final day of its bloom. V. cruziana is a thermogenetic or heat-producing plant. The floral stigma are attached to a cup that is protected by spines, and the floral cup begins heating up in the bud, then, as the flower opens, it releases a strong sweet scent to attract pollinating beetles, then continues to provide heat to the flower while the beetles are pollinating.[2][3]
Victoria cruziana was discovered in Bolivia on one of many expeditions through the country by Alcide d'Orbigny whose presence was sponsored by Andrés de Santa Cruz. The first collected specimens were returned to France where they named in honor of Santa Cruz by Alcide's brother, Charles Henry Dessalines d'Orbigny.[citation needed]
