The largest lotus in the world

The king lily is often the talk of the summer in many botanical gardens where it is grown. Discovered in 1801 by German botanists in a tributary of the Amazon River, the largest king lily can reach a diameter of more than 3 meters and can withstand up to 70 kg without sinking. Its foliage viewing period can extend from the end of May until mid-November, up to six months. And its flowers bloom three times, usually for three days, with different colors each day. The buds stick out of the water when they bloom, opening in the evening on the first day, white and fragrant, turning pink on the second day, and turning purple on the third, then closing and sinking into the water, with the seeds maturing in the water. Because of this peculiar characteristic, the king lily has been called the "fickle goddess".

King lotus morphological characteristics

The king lily is a large floating-leaf herb, perennial or annual, with needle-like initial leaves that grow to 11 leaves with upwardly curled edges. The leaves are smooth, green with a slight reddish tinge, the back of the leaf is purplish-red, the petiole is green, and there are many hard spines on the back of the leaf and on the petiole. The fibrous roots are well-developed and white, and the giant leaves float on the water surface. The flowers are colorful and fragrant. The flowers bloom in summer and gradually change from white to deep red.

King lily usually fruits in September. The fruit is black and spherical, and when it is ripe, it has about 500 seeds, with the highest recorded number being over 700. The seeds are very similar to lotus seeds and are rich in starch, commonly known as "water corn".

Habitat

King lotus is a tropical plant, adapted to high temperature and high humidity, not hardy, when the temperature is below 20 ℃, the growth is slow or even stagnant. When the temperature is around 8℃, it will die. Wang Lian is not adapted to survive in deep water and likes fertile sludge. The sludge in the cultivation pool should not exceed 50 centimeters and the water depth should be within 1 meter. You can fertilize more during the long leaf and flowering period, but stop fertilizing immediately after autumn. The king lily needs to be placed in a sunny place and should be well protected during overwintering.

Native to South America, the king lily has been introduced to large botanical gardens and parks around the world. In China, there are three species of King lilies that open in summer. Nowadays, it is an essential ornamental plant in modern garden water features and a valuable flower in urban floral exhibitions, with high ornamental value as well as purifying water bodies.