What plants are water lilies, bowl lotus, ziwo lotus, and watercress flower?

Scientific name: Nymphaea tetragona

Aliases: ziwo lotus, watercress flower

Family and genus: Nymphaeaceae

Distribution and origin of the scientific name:

The water lily is a general term for plants of the genus Nymphaea in the family Nymphaeaceae. There are 40-50 species of Nymphaea worldwide, and 5 species in China. According to their ecological characteristics, water lilies can be divided into two major categories: cold-tolerant and non-cold-tolerant. The former is distributed in subtropical and temperate regions, while the latter is distributed in tropical regions.

In ancient Egypt, the water lily, like China's lotus, was regarded as an embodiment of holiness and beauty, and was often used as an offering to the goddesses. In the New Testament of the Bible, there is also the saying of "a holy thing, emerging from the mud unstained."

Morphological characteristics:

The rhizome grows horizontally, is thick and short, and is cylindrical, with several round holes of varying sizes distributed longitudinally inside. The leaves are clustered, floating on the water surface, and are round, ovate, or heart-shaped. The flowers are borne at the tips of slender peduncles and bloom in July-August.

Origin:

Native to tropical regions of Asia and Oceania.

Growth habits:

The optimum temperature during the growing period is 20-30°C. Under strong light, it grows and develops quickly and blooms early. It prefers shallow water and fears flooding and strong winds.

The color is fresh and elegant, and both the flowers and leaves are fragrant. There are many varieties, including single-petaled and double-petaled, as well as thousand-petaled lotus and double-layered lotus. At home, they are grown in vats or pots and are suitable for arranging balconies and courtyards.

It is a sun-loving plant and likes abundant sunlight. If the light is insufficient, the lotus leaves will grow excessively and lose green color, and cannot form buds. Generally, it can be maintained in a fully sunlit yard or along the outer edge of a south-facing balcony. However, it should be noted that bowl lotus is delicate, so at noon in summer it should avoid the scorching sun and be moved to a shady place, and the time for indoor flower viewing and display should not be too long, not exceeding 3 days at a time.

Domestic and international development trends:

Chinese botanists pay far less attention to water lilies than to lotuses. Botanists abroad, however, pay considerable attention to them. As early as 150 years ago, French botanists successfully bred dozens of cultivated varieties, some of which have been passed down to this day, making great contributions to ornamental horticulture.

In 1912, the Missouri Botanical Garden in the United States carried out water lily breeding work under the guidance of Georg Pring and bred a large number of ideal varieties. To this day, the number and quality of water lily varieties bred by American botanists remain second to none. Every year, more than ten varieties are registered, recorded, and marketed, and in addition a large number of monographs on water lilies continue to be published. Their work has gradually attracted the attention of the botanical community. Chinese botanists have not paid enough attention to research on water lilies and for many years have remained only at the stage of collecting varieties, while breeding work is still a blank in China. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Beijing Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences introduced several tropical varieties, which have been preserved to this day; in 1983, the Nanjing Botanical Garden introduced 17 cold-tolerant varieties from the Washington Arboretum in the United States, but failed to breed new varieties; in the late 1990s, the Wuhan Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences caught up and collected more than 50 varieties, and published "Introduction and Cultivation of Nymphaea Plants," which appeared in the "Collected Papers on Plant Introduction and Acclimatization." In recent years, researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Botany and the Beijing Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have begun water lily breeding work. It is expected that in two or three years a batch of new varieties will come onto the market, allowing Chinese water lilies to go to the world like lotuses.

Miniature bowl lotus was already cultivated in China during the Han Dynasty as an aquatic ornamental flower. In the Tang Dynasty it developed to cultivation in vats and pots, and later it developed from vat and pot cultivation to miniature bowl lotus grown in bowls, that is, using smooth, holeless bowls as containers to grow lotuses. Paired with tree-stump stands and placed on a balcony, they are elegant and distinctive, with a strong flavor of daily life.

1. Variety selection

For growing bowl lotus at home, choose varieties with a flower diameter of less than 10 cm, a plant height not exceeding 30 cm, upright leaves about 20 cm in diameter, and more than 5 flowers.

Common traditional bowl lotus varieties include: "Table Lotus," "Xiamen Bowl Lotus," "Brocade-Edged Bowl Lotus," "Bowl Red," "Double Water Splendor," and "Welcoming Guest Hibiscus." Newly bred varieties in recent years include "Spring at the Desk," "Snow White," "Baby Red," "Love of Summer," "Singing Autumn," and "Youth." They are beautiful in both form and color and are most suitable for home cultivation.

2. Container specifications

Containers of different specifications have a great influence on the cultivation and growth of bowl lotus. According to research experiments by relevant garden departments, containers with a mouth diameter of 20-25 cm and a depth of 15-20 cm are most suitable for growing bowl lotus.

3. Application of water lilies in gardens and interiors

Water lilies were used in gardens very early. In the 16th century, Italy already used them as the theme material for water landscapes. Two thousand years ago, water lilies also appeared in imperial and private gardens during China's Han Dynasty. Water lilies are beautiful in both flower and leaf, rich in flower color, and long in flowering period, and are deeply loved by people. The roots of water lilies can absorb toxic substances such as lead, mercury, and phenol in water, making them a rare plant material for water purification. Therefore, they are highly valued in the purification, greening, and beautification of urban water bodies.

In garden water landscapes north and south of the Yangtze River in China, water lilies of various colors are often planted, either in pots or in ponds, for people to view. Pond planting is divided into natural ponds and artificial ponds. Natural ponds, because of their irregular shape, large water surface, deep water level, and lack of drainage and irrigation systems, first need to be modified according to the situation. Deep-water-tolerant varieties should be planted. To avoid mixing varieties, the pond can be divided into several small sections, with one variety per section. In this kind of large-area planting, when growth is vigorous, it can present a magnificent landscape. Artificial ponds have concrete structures and vary in shape and can be designed according to requirements. Their drainage and irrigation systems are good, and the water level can be controlled. In this type of pond, plants can be submerged in pots, and water landscape materials can be arranged flexibly, making design and adjustment easy. For example, with water lilies as the theme, paired with materials such as Victoria amazonica, Gorgon euryale, lotus, Nymphoides peltata, cattail, and iris, placing them in different ways will create different water landscape effects. In addition to pond planting, according to the needs of the landscape, refined vats and pots can be selected and placed in front of buildings, sculptures, and rockeries, often achieving unexpectedly special effects. Miniature varieties of water lilies can be used to decorate interiors. Planted in refined small pots and paired with exquisite and elegant pot stands, placed in an appropriate position, then this small living thing, with its glossy green leaves, delicate flower buds, and faint, elusive fragrance, bathed in indoor lighting and complementing the other indoor decorations, is pleasing to the eye and delightful to the heart.

4. Garden management

Water lilies are long-day plants, and the planting site should have sufficient light and good ventilation. Water lilies also have certain requirements for water level at different growth stages. For potted plants placed outdoors, the water should be shallow at first and full at the peak period. For potted plants submerged in water, at first the water should just slightly cover the rim of the pot; as the leaves grow, the water level should be gradually raised, with the water surface about 20 to 30 cm from the pot; at the peak period, the water surface should be 30 to 50 cm from the pot rim. For pond-planted water lilies, when the rainy season arrives and the water depth exceeds 1 m, drainage should be carried out in time. For potted water lilies in the early growth stage, if the base fertilizer is sufficient, there is no need for additional fertilization. During the flowering period, to promote flower bud differentiation, quick-acting potassium dihydrogen phosphate should be applied (use absorbent paper to wrap the fertilizer, 5 grams per packet, 2 packets per vat, and several small holes can be pierced in the packet. Insert it along the pot wall below the rhizome, once every half month, for 3 to 4 consecutive applications). For pond planting, as long as there is a fertile layer of mud at the bottom of the pond, no additional fertilization is needed. Attention should be paid to removing weeds and dead leaves in the pots and algae in the pond. If there is too much algae, a 0.3% to 0.5% copper sulfate solution can be sprayed, once every half month, several times in succession, which can play a certain control role. For overwintering protection, potted plants can be stored in cellars. For cold-tolerant varieties, the cellar temperature should be 0 to 5°C; for tropical varieties, the cellar temperature should be kept at 10 to 15°C to avoid frost damage. For pond planting, cold-tolerant varieties can overwinter under the ice at the bottom of the pond; tropical varieties in the north can have their bulbs taken out of the pond and stored in a greenhouse at 10 to 15°C using the sand stratification method until planting when the weather turns warm the following year.

Pest and disease control: For aphid damage during the growing period, a 45% dimethoate 1000-fold dilution can be sprayed; for snail damage to tender buds and tender leaves, chemical control is not very effective, so biological control can be used, with ducks and @#@237@#@ able to suppress the spread of the pests.