Oooohhh! That’s what Jules and I said when we spotted these beauties at Shuangxi Park, a 15 minute walk from our apartment. A veritable green sanctuary amidst the city chaos, I was sooo happy that these giant Victorian water lilies were still in bloom. However, given that they need very warm water temperatures to survive and given the record-shattering heat Taipei has been experiencing this summer, I can’t say I’m surprised.
This special variety of water lilies (Victoria amazonica) is native to South America, mostly Brazil, and it’s known for its size and incredible strength. One of these lily pads can reach up to 2.5m (8 ft) wide and hold up to 45 kg (100 lbs, or the average weight of a Taiwanese woman) due to its strong lattice-like ribbed structure and its buoyancy provided by the large air pockets inside the leaf. Taiwan has been cultivating this type of lily due to its beauty and wow factor, and it takes a lot of patience and care to raise one of these lilies to ‘giant’ size.
Nature amazes me to no end, and this lily doesn’t disappoint. It has adapted thorns under its leaves to ward off nibbly fish, it has holes in its leaves to allow rain water to drain through, the rim helps keep insects away and the poetic part is that once the dusk-blooming white flower has been pollinated by a pollen-coated scarab beetle, it then turns purple and dies after a couple of days to sink into the water to produce seeds. Romantic in a nature kind of way.
