Amazon bliss

It is the largest aquatic plant in the world and has the largest flower in the Americas. Typical of the northern region of Brazil, this plant has adapted well to the Amazon River and its warm temperature, and takes advantage of the period of the river’s flood to grow its roots and flourish.

This exuberant leaf has the shape of a circle, which lies on the surface of the water, and can reach up to 2.5 meters in diameter and support up to 40 kilograms if they are well distributed on its surface; so if a child with this weight wants to walk on top or even lie on a water lily, he can do so without fear of sinking.

Its flower is white in color and blooms only at night, releasing a delicious and sweet fragrance. On the second day the flower gains a pinkish hue, when it is ready for pollination. Due to its beauty, the water lily is widely used to decorate ponds and gardens.

The water lily, in addition to its outstanding beauty and perfume, has a root that is similar to cassava or yam, which is rich in starch and minerals, and for this reason it is often consumed by riverside dwellers or local residents. Among the indigenous natives, they have a variety of uses, for instance, its roots release a juice used to dye their hair black, its leaves are used as laxatives or for healing purposes and its seeds are edible.

Known in Brazil as “vitória-régia”, it was named after the English botanist John Lindley, in honor of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in the 19th century. The expedition to the Amazon in which he participated took seeds of the plant to the gardens of the Queen’s palace.

There is also an old and popular Brazilian folklore legend about its origins. It all started when an indigenous woman named Naiá discovered that the Moon was a goddess who turned the most beautiful girls into stars and whenever the Moon hid behind mountains, she chose and took some girls with her. In the hope of becoming a star, on a full moon night, upon seeing the image of the moon reflected over the waters of a stream, Naiá threw herself over the image, believing that the moon was calling her to enter the water. Thus, the girl threw herself into the lake towards the image of the Moon. When she realized that it was an illusion, she tried to return, but she did not succeed and drowned. The natives believed that the Moon goddess, moved by the situation, decided to transform the young woman into a different star from all of the others, a “water star”: the vitória-régia. And the flowers that bloomed represented the rebirth of Naiá. And so, the fragrant and white flowers of this plant only open at night to be shined upon by the moon.