This record was delivered on January 30. Guinness World Records recognized the merit. The world record-holding water lily is at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London. It is the largest in the world.
The species is the Bolivian victory. The specimen had been hidden in the Kew Herbarium for 177 years. All this time it was believed that these specimens belonged to the Victoria amazonica. Only identified as a new species after the plant was grown in gardens west of London and growing in 2018.

Relative species
To date, there were two species of giant water lilies: the. Victoria amazonica and the Crusader victory. The Asturian horticulturist Carlos Magdalena, a worker at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, led the team that made the discovery. They used seeds brought from Bolivia to germinate them. DNA analysis confirmed it. The Bolivian victory separated from the Crusader victory one million years ago.
Relative species, Victoria amazonica was a sensation in 19th century English society. Its leaves reached two and a half meters in diameter, making it a solid island. Victorian-era portraits show elegant children posing on top of the species. Its flowers, 40 centimeters in diameter, have a spectacular fragrance. But they only open for two nights. They start out white to attract pollinators and then turn pink after releasing their pollen.

A question of size
Today, the Amazonian victory ceded the leading role to the Bolivian victory. It now holds the world record leaf size of three meters and twenty centimeters in diameter. It was recorded in the Jardines de La Rinconada, in its native Bolivia.
As a curiosity, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew also holds the. Nymphaea thermarum. It is the smallest water lily in the world, only one centimeter in diameter. Originally from Rwanda, it was on the verge of disappearing due to the destruction of its natural habitat. It was Carlos Magdalena who saved it from extinction by growing it from seed in 2009. Now, also the water lily that holds a world record owes its new fame to him.