Nymphaea mexicana

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Nymphaea mexicana is a rhizomatous, aquatic, perennial herb with stoloniferous, up to 30 cm long, and 4 cm wide rhizomes. The rhizomes bear leaf and root scars. The stolons are 15–100 cm long, and 0.5–1 cm wide. The ovate, suborbicular, or elliptic lamina is 7–18(–27) cm long, and 7–14(–18) cm wide. The long, cylindrical petiole is glabrous.

Generative characteristics

The floating or emersed, yellow, 6–13 cm wide flowers have peduncles with four primary air canals. The flowers have four sepals and 12–30 yellow petals. The androecium consists of 50 stamens. The gynoecium consists of seven to ten carpels. The spheroid or ovoid fruit bears 3–5 mm long, and 3–5 mm wide seeds with hairlike papillae. Tuberiferous flowers or proliferating pseudanthia can be present.

Cytology

The chromosome count is n = 28. The genome size is 586.80 Mb. The chloroplast genome is 159962 bp long.

Taxonomy

It was published by Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini in 1832. Within the subgenus Nymphaea subg. Nymphaea it is placed in the section Nymphaea sect. Xanthantha.

Etymology

The specific epithet mexicana refers to Mexico.

Hybridisation

Together with Nymphaea odorata, it forms the natural hybrid Nymphaea × thiona.

Reproduction

Vegetative reproduction

Nymphaea mexicana reproduces vegetatively through stolons. Their structure, resembling bananas, consists of leaf buds and thick, starchy roots. Additionally, tuberiferous flowers or proliferating pseudanthia can be present.

Conservation

The NatureServe conservation status is Vulnerable (G3).

Ecology

Habitat

It occurs in up to 4 m deep water in lagoons, canals swamps, and rivers. It can occur in brackish water.

Herbivory

The canvasback duck, Aythya valisineria, feeds on the banana-like roots of the plant.

As an invasive species

Together with its hybrids, it has become an invasive species outside of its natural range. For instance, it has been recorded in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the Iberian Peninsula.

References

References

1. "''Nymphaea mexicana'' Zucc.".
2. ''Nymphaea mexicana''. (n.d.). NatureServe. Retrieved February 9, 2024, from https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.136017/Nymphaea_mexicana
3. {{GRIN
4. [http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Nymphaea%20mexicana.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map]
5. ''Nymphaea mexicana'' Zuccarini. (n.d.). Flora of North America @ efloras.org. Retrieved December 2, 2024, from http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500827
6. The Calflora Database. (n.d.). ''Nymphaea mexicana''  Zucc. Calflora. Retrieved December 2, 2024, from https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=5875
7. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. (n.d.-b). ''Nymphaea mexicana'' Zucc. VicFlora Flora of Victoria. Retrieved December 2, 2024, from https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/fc0766f3-a2f3-432d-b997-48256d588310
8. Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. (n.d.-c). ''Nymphaea mexicana'' Zucc. Flora of New Zealand. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://www.nzflora.info/factsheet/taxon/Nymphaea-mexicana.html
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11. Gruenstaeudl, M., Nauheimer, L., & Borsch, T. (2017). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318253682_Plastid_genome_structure_and_phylogenomics_of_Nymphaeales_conserved_gene_order_and_new_insights_into_relationships Plastid genome structure and phylogenomics of Nymphaeales: conserved gene order and new insights into relationships.] Plant systematics and evolution, 303, 1251-1270.
12. Königlich Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften. & Königlich Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften. (1832). Abhandlungen der Mathematisch-Physikalischen Klasse der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vol. 1, p. 365). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11355625
13. Pellicer, J., Kelly, L. J., Magdalena, C., & Leitch, I. J. (2013). [https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/gen-2013-0039 Insights into the dynamics of genome size and chromosome evolution in the early diverging angiosperm lineage Nymphaeales (water lilies).] Genome, 56(8), 437-449.
14. Borsch, T., Hilu, K. W., Wiersema, J. H., Löhne, C., Barthlott, W., & Wilde, V. (2007). [https://www.seerosenforum.de/Gattung/PHYLOGENY-OF-NYMPHAEA.pdf 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.
15. Conard, Henry S. (1905). The waterlilies: a monograph of the genus ''Nymphaea'' (pp. 163–167). Pub. by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35044992
16. Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. (n.d.-b). ''Nymphaea mexicana'' Zucc. Biota of New Zealand. Retrieved December 2, 2024, from https://biotanz.landcareresearch.co.nz/scientific-names/7170dae4-4e51-4868-be42-e5d9fa735353
17. Wiersema, J. H. (1988). Reproductive Biology of ''Nymphaea'' (Nymphaeaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 75(3), 795–804. https://doi.org/10.2307/2399367
18. S.W.L. Jacobs & C.L. Porter. ''Nymphaea mexicana'', in (ed.), Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Nymphaea%20mexicana [Date Accessed: 04 December 2024]
19. Western Australian Herbarium & Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. (n.d.-c). ''Nymphaea mexicana'' Zucc. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/2922
20. Alabama Herbarium Consortium & University of West Alabama. (n.d.). ''Nymphaea mexicana''. Alabama Plant Atlas. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from http://floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=2705
21. Mowbray, Thomas B.. (2020-03-04). "Canvasback (''Aythya valisineria'')". [[Cornell Lab of Ornithology]].
22. Reid, M. K., Paterson, I. D., Coetzee, J. A., Gettys, L. A., & Hill, M. P. (2023). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964423001445 Know thy enemy: Investigating genetic contributions from putative parents of invasive ''Nymphaea mexicana'' hybrids in South Africa as part of efforts to develop biological control.] Biological Control, 184, 105291.
23. Reid, M. K., Naidu, P., Paterson, I. D., Mangan, R., & Coetzee, J. A. (2021). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/am/pii/S0304377021000218 Population genetics of invasive and native ''Nymphaea mexicana'' Zuccarini: Taking the first steps to initiate a biological control programme in South Africa.] Aquatic Botany, 171, 103372.
24. (2012). "Invasión de ''Nymphaea mexicana'' Zucc. (Nymphaceae) en la cuenca del río Guadiana". Folia Bot. Extremadurensis.