The Victoria amazonica is a species of flowering plant, the largest of the Nymphaeaceae family of water lilies.
It is the National flower of Guyana.
Victoria amazonica is a giant water lily with the largest flower in the world.
There is a common myth that this plant only flowers once a year, but in fact, it flowers almost every week during the summer. The flower is just in bloom for two days.
This Giant Water Lily grows in the shallow waters of the Amazon River basin, as well as bayous and specific lakes in Brazil. This species is native to Brazil.
The flower first day is white and gives off a pineapple scent. On the second day, it is pink and odourless.
The smell attracts beetles to pollinate the flower and bring pollen to another flower.
Giant Water Lily adapts to their environment by growing thorns on the bottom of the leaves to protect itself from fishes and other predators that might want to eat it.
There is another adaptation which is the rim around the edges of the leaves.
The rims act as a barrier between insect and birds that might want to eat them.
The third adaptation of this Giant Water Lily is that the flower only lives for three days.
It traps beetles that come to pollinate the flower inside its core and then releases all its pollen on these beetles.
This enlarges the percentage of pollen that gets transported to other flowers for pollination.
