Victoria 'Dreamer' gains int’l recognition as new lotus variety

Victoria 'Dreamer', a new variety of giant water lily bred in south Yunnan, was recently recognized by the International Water Lilies and Water Gardening Society (IWGS).

Cultivated by Wu Fuchuan and Liu Meng at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the new variety was selected by artificial mutagenesis, and the stability of its traits has been under observation since 2018.

 
The giant water lily is a typical aquatic plant in tropical areas, known as "Hercules" of the plant world. With extraordinary bearing capacity, its leaf is up to 3 meters in diameter and the edge is vertical. On the whole, the leaf looks like a "big plate".  
 
The novel Victoria ‘Dreamer’ features purple-bronze leaves, brightly red flowers and a firmer texture.
 
Reported by Zhou Jing, Hu Youwen, Cha Wei (Mengla Media Center); Trans-editing by Yang Xuan