Blue water lilly

Description:

This water lilly is quite common in some places of Africa. For me it is a rare and beautiful spotting! It has four sepals, green on the outside and white to blue on the inside, and many blue petals. In the centre of the flower are numerous blue-tipped bright golden yellow stamens. A fully open flower measures 15-20 cm across and each flower lasts for about four days.

Habitat:

This lilly was found in a slow-flowing stream crossing the road to Vilanculos. It also grew in some very small ponds nearby the stream.

Notes:

The water lily family, Nymphaeaceae, is an old and evolutionarily primitive one, and is grouped with buttercups (Ranunculus) and magnolias in the order Ranales. Furthermore, fossil evidence suggests that nymphaeas have not changed much over the past 160 million years. All they have done is move about the globe, keeping in the tropical and temperate zones.