Can you really sit on a Victoria amazonica leaf?

Victoria amazonica is a famous tropical aquatic ornamental plant for garden ponds. It is a large perennial or annual floating-leaf herbaceous plant in the genus Victoria of the family Nymphaeaceae, native to the tropical regions of South America. It has giant, peculiar disc-like leaves that float on the water surface, very spectacular, and is famous worldwide for its delicately changing flower colors and strong fragrance. Let us take a look below at whether it is true that you can sit on a Victoria amazonica!

Can you really sit on a Victoria amazonica?

It is true that you can sit on a Victoria amazonica. Victoria amazonica has the largest leaves among aquatic flowering plants. The leaves can reach more than 3 m in diameter, with a smooth surface and upturned edges, like huge emerald-green platters floating on the water. Because its leaf veins differ in structure from those of ordinary plants, forming ribs like an umbrella frame, it has great buoyancy and can bear up to sixty or seventy kilograms of weight without sinking.

What uses does Victoria amazonica have?

Victoria amazonica is known for its huge disc-like leaves and beautiful, strongly fragrant flowers. The leaf-viewing period is 150 days, and the flower-viewing period is 90 days. If Victoria amazonica is arranged together with aquatic plants such as lotus and water lilies, it will form a perfect and unique water landscape that is hard to forget. In large water bodies, multiple plants forming a group create a magnificent momentum. Different environments can also choose different varieties of Victoria amazonica for planting. Victoria cruziana is smaller in plant type with emerald-green leaves, suitable for courtyard viewing, while Victoria amazonica has a larger plant type and is more suitable for cultivation in large water areas.

What types of Victoria amazonica are there?

1. Victoria amazonica: Victoria amazonica has an upright rhizome with well-developed adventitious roots. The primary leaves are needle-shaped, the 2nd to 3rd leaves are spear-shaped, the 4th to 5th leaves are halberd-shaped, the 6th to 10th leaves are elliptical to round, and after the 11th leaf the leaf edges turn up into a disc shape. The leaf surface is green with a slight reddish tinge. It is native to tropical waters of South America and grows naturally in river bends and lakeside waters.

2. Victoria cruziana: The morphology of Victoria cruziana is basically the same as that of Victoria amazonica. The difference is that its leaves remain green throughout the entire growth period, the leaf diameter is larger than that of Victoria amazonica, the leaf edges are upturned, and the upright edges are nearly 1 times higher than those of Victoria amazonica, while the flower color is also lighter than that of Victoria amazonica. Its main producing areas are Paraguay and Argentina.

3. Victoria 'Longwood Hybrid': Victoria 'Longwood Hybrid' was produced by crossing Victoria amazonica and Victoria cruziana, and has the largest leaves. It was bred by the Longwood Gardens in the United States in 1961 through hybridization, combining the characteristics of the two parents. The sepals are sparsely covered with hard prickles. The leaves generally all reach more than 2 m, and the leaf edge height is between the two parents. The leaves are slightly red, and the leaf veins are purplish red.