Nymphaea subg. Lotos is a subgenus of the genus Nymphaea.USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2024. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomygenus?type=subgenus&id=18560. Accessed 11 December 2024.
Description
Vegetative characteristics The rhizomes are short, vertical, and tuberous. The pubescent leaves have a dentate crenate, or serrate margin. Generative characteristics The blue,Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2025). Flora of Zimbabwe: Species information: Nymphaea nouchali var. petersiana. Retrieved March 1, 2025, from https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=123470 white, cream, yellow, magenta, or pink,Pellegrini, M. O. O. & Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. (n.d.-f). Nymphaea L. Flora E Funga Do Brasil. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/FB10936 nocturnal or diurnal, emergent flowers extend up to 20 cm above the water surface. The stamens do not have sterile appendages at the apex. Cytology In Nymphaea pubescens and Nymphaea lotus, the chromosome count is 2n = 56. They are tetraploid species.Pellicer, J., Kelly, L. J., Magdalena, C., & Leitch, I. J. (2013). Insights into the dynamics of genome size and chromosome evolution in the early diverging angiosperm lineage Nymphaeales (water lilies). Genome, 56(8), 437-449.
Taxonomy Publication It was published as Nymphaea sect. Lotos DC. by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1821. Later, it was elevated to the subgenus Nymphaea subgen. Lotos (DC.) Conard published by Henry Shoemaker Conard in 1905.Nymphaea subgen. Lotos | International Plant Names Index. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2024, from https://www.ipni.org/n/77303970-1Nymphaea sect. Lotos | International Plant Names Index. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2024, from https://www.ipni.org/n/77303556-1 Type species The type species is Nymphaea lotus L. Species
†Nymphaea brongniartii †Nymphaea elisabethae Gee, C. T., & Taylor, D. W. (2016). Aquatic macrophytes from the upper Oligocene fossillagerstätte of Rott (Rhineland, Germany). Part II: A new fossil leaf species of Nymphaea (subgenus Lotos), N. elisabethae Gee et David W. Taylor sp. nov. †Nymphaea haeringiana Nymphaea lotus Löhne, C., Yoo, M. J., Borsch, T., Wiersema, J., Wilde, V., Bell, C. D., ... & Soltis, P. S. (2008). Biogeography of Nymphaeales: extant patterns and historical events. Taxon, 57(4), 1123-19E. Nymphaea lotus var. thermalis Nymphaea petersiana Roestel, J. A., Wiersema, J. H., Jansen, R. K., Borsch, T., & Gruenstaeudl, M. (2024). On the importance of sequence alignment inspections in plastid phylogenomics–an example from revisiting the relationships of the water‐lilies. Cladistics.Borsch, T., Hilu, K. W., Wiersema, J. H., Löhne, C., Barthlott, W., & Wilde, V. (2007). Phylogeny of Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae): evidence from substitutions and microstructural changes in the chloroplast trnT-trnF region. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 168(5), 639-671.Dkhar, J., Kumaria, S., Rao, S. R., & Tandon, P. (2010). Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic reassessment of four Indian representatives of the genus Nymphaea. Aquatic Botany, 93(2), 135-139. Nymphaea pubescens Nymphaea × rosea USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=415902. Accessed 2 March 2025. Nymphaea rubra
Fossil record Fossils from the upper Oligocene (28.4–23.0 million years ago) of France have been assigned to Nymphaea subg. Lotos.Butzmann, R., & Fischer, T. C. (2013). "Fossil water lily fruits with seeds Nymphaea subgenus Lotos, from the Oligocene of Armissan/Narbonne (France)." Zitteliana, 93-104. It is also known from the Rupelian (33.9 – 27.82 Ma) of Bad Häring, Austria.Butzmann, R., Fischer, T. C., & Rieber, E. (2009). Makroflora aus dem inneralpinen Fächerdelta der Häring-Formation (Rupelium) vom Duxer Köpfl bei Kufstein/Unterinntal, Österreich. Zitteliana, 129-163.
Distribution It is native to the paleotropis.
Ecology Pollination Pollination by the scarab beetle Ruteloryctes morio (tribe Cyclocephalini) has been reported in Nymphaea subg. Lotos.Hirthe, G., & Porembski, S. (2003). Pollination of Nymphaea lotus (Nymphaeaceae) by rhinoceros beetles and bees in the northeastern Ivory Coast. Plant Biology, 5(06), 670-676.Ervik, F., & Knudsen, J. T. (2003). Water lilies and scarabs: faithful partners for 100 million years?. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 80(3), 539-543.Krell, F. T., Hirthe, G., Seine, R., & Porembski, S. (2003). Rhinoceros beetles pollinate water lilies in Africa (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae; Magnoliidae: Nymphaeaceae). Ecotropica, 9(1/2), 103-106.
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