Nymphaea, ID'd by Andreas Protopapas as Nymphaea marliacea 'Albida'

  • 12 Replies
  • 5565 Views
*

Pauline

  • Jr. Member
My Water Lily just opened its first flower - and very lovely it is. But I would really like to know what Water Lily it is so that I know what depth it can go to (at the moment it's still sitting on the marginal shelf because it was very difficult to obtain and I really, really, don't want to kill it).

The flower is 9 cm in diameter and the mature leaves are 14 cm. The leaves start off purple and age to mid green. The underside of the leaves is reddish.

Any ideas, please?







« Last Edit: September 08, 2015, 09:24:38 AM by Alisdair »
An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.

*

Alisdair

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #1 on: July 03, 2015, 12:55:29 PM »
If it's Nymphaea candida (which it looks like, and which is about that size) you could take it down to 30cm or 40cm but probably not much more. Or have you ruled that one out?
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

*

Pauline

  • Jr. Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #2 on: July 03, 2015, 01:17:28 PM »
Thanks for that, Alisdair. I haven't ruled anything out yet, well except the ones that don't look like it at all. I'm trying - I've been trying for hours and hours now - but can't find any detailed descriptions.  :(


An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.

*

John J

  • Hero Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #3 on: July 03, 2015, 04:15:10 PM »
I agree with Alisdair that N candida is a possibility. You didn't mention whether or not it had a fragrance. If so could I suggest you look up N odorata if you haven't already done so.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

*

Pauline

  • Jr. Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2015, 05:50:31 PM »
Ha! I was out there sniffing it earlier today. Couldn't detect a thing. Trouble is I seem to have an off-beat sense of smell: I can't abide the smell of Buxus sempervirens, which I find nauseating, but other people say it has no smell; I'd have classified Hamamelis as unscented, while others say it's lovely. Go figure.

N. Candida seems more like a miniature and this is no miniature - but I lack authoritative sources of info. The much smaller leaf in the pic, just behind the flower, is is the size of a miniature and is one of three that seem to be coming from a separate plant in the same container.

Confused? I don't blame you! The one final bit of information I have probably won't help at all - the plant came from The Netherlands.


An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.

*

Alisdair

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2015, 06:25:50 PM »
I quote from a description of N. candida in Perry Slocum's splendid book Waterlilies and Lotuses: Species, Cultivars and New Hybrids (2005):
Flowers. Petal color: White (RHS155D). Sepal color: White, blushed pink, green borders and tips (RHS 155D; blush, 65D of paler; borders and tips, 193B). Anther color: Yellow (RHS 3A). Stamen color: Yellow. Flower shape: Cuplike. Flower size: 3 in. (8 cm.) Fragrance: None or very slight. Number of petals: 12-20. Number of sepals: 4 or 5.
Leaves. Color: Top, green; underside, reddish purple, prominent green veins. Leaves a little longer than wide; lobes may overlap halfway down sinus or sinus open. Leaf size: 7 x 6 in. (18 x 15 cm.). Stem color: Mostly purple-bronze, peduncle a little paler than petiole. Many fine hairs on peduncle and petiole.
I did skim through his descriptions of roughly similar hybrids. The only one I found that was at all like yours (but I thought had narrower petals) was 'Jasmine' but that's very fragrant.
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

*

John J

  • Hero Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2015, 08:06:23 AM »
Pauline, I have passed your photo on to my friend Andreas Protopapas here in Cyprus. He is a waterlily expert and breeder so I'm hoping he may be able to come up with a suggestion. You can see photos of some of his hybrids on www.victoria-adventure.org/waterlilies/andreas_hybrids/gallery.html.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

*

Pauline

  • Jr. Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #7 on: July 04, 2015, 04:39:00 PM »
Gosh thank you, both of you!  :)

This morning the flower was being held well clear of the water - to the extent that I was afraid of its being snapped off in the wind. I've never seen a hardy lily do that before but I suppose it is in very shallow water.

I've taken some more pictures to help (I hope) with identification, though I confess the first one is mostly because it's so pretty. It really is pure white, no suggestion of a blush of pink or cream.

The bud, now closed again, shows just how far out of the water it is now. It also shows that all the stems are pale yellowish green, and that at least the one to the flower is hairy. Filamentous algae have just invaded so it's hard to see how hairy stuff under the water is - everything looks hairy just now!

Then there's the underside of a mature leaf, which I'd call reddish light green or light terracotta. (Oh well all right: pink. ;) ) And finally a shot of the whole plant(s) which might help with leaf shape.

Sorry - if I knew how to do clickable miniatures I'd have done those leading to bigger pix. And now I'm off to drool over, sorry study, all those wonderful pictures of waterlilies....














An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.

*

John J

  • Hero Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2015, 01:09:23 PM »
Pauline, I haven't heard back from Andreas so maybe he's away. I'll keep trying.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

*

Pauline

  • Jr. Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2015, 03:10:31 PM »
Thank you! I am still trying but not getting very far.  :-\

An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.

*

Pauline

  • Jr. Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #10 on: August 05, 2015, 07:51:45 AM »
Just to add that this plant has now produced several new leaves that are quite a bit smaller - about 8 cm diameter. A second flower (11 cm diameter) opened on Monday and today I see there is a bud that will probaby open in a day or two.

So the flower is bigger but the leaves are smaller. It's sure keeping me guessing!   :-\


An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.

*

John J

  • Hero Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #11 on: September 06, 2015, 11:44:20 AM »
Pauline, my apologies for the very late response but I ran into Andreas today at a meeting of the Cyprus Cactus & Succulent Society (that's his latest passion) and asked him about your water lily. It seems he did answer my original query but for some reason I hadn't received it, that's the wonders of technology for you. Anyway, he feels it is hard to be certain just from a photo but his opinion would be Nymphaea marliacea 'Albida'.
Hope this helps.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

*

Pauline

  • Jr. Member
Re: Nymphaea, but which Nymphaea? Help please.
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2015, 03:55:23 PM »
Yaaay! Thank you! (That one was on my short list so I don't feel a total idiot.) Thanks again. :)

An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.