Pictured: World's largest waterlily finally given official title after hiding under botanists’ noses

The world’s biggest waterlily, which has been at Kew Gardens for more than 177 years, has finally entered the record books after almost two centuries.

Kew has a long history with giant water lilies, with Victorian era children famously pictured sitting on the 10ft-wide floating leaves.

However, scientists working at Kew last year discovered that a plant which had been drawn and documented in 1845 was in fact a never before known species.

The plant had long been thought to be the species Victoria amazonica but following new analysis was revealed to be a completely new species, now known as Victoria boliviana.

A paper published in July 2022 proved the plant was morphologically and genetically different to all other water lilies known to science.

Kew scientist Carlos Magdalena, who made the discovery, called the plant “one of the botanical wonders of the world”. The findings take the total of Victoria giant water lily species to three.

Kew researchers found boliviana is the biggest of the group and more closely related to the cruziana species than the amazonica lily it was long mistaken for.

On Monday, an official from Guinness World Records presented Mr Juan Carlos Crespo Montalvo, the Bolivian Charge d’Affaires, with an official title for the world’s largest giant waterlily species.

Mr Crespo Montalvo said: “The recent scientific discovery of the new species of giant waterlily in Bolivian territory and baptised as Bolivian Victoria is a finding of great joy and hope for all peoples.

“Nature continues to surprise us with new discoveries. We agree with Director Deverell that we must work together to strengthen cooperative ties to face the great challenges of our time, such as climate change and the biodiversity crisis.

The plant was awarded three official records, the largest species of waterlily, the largest waterlily leaf, and the largest undivided leaf.

The record-breaking plant blooms overnight and can support the weight of a person.

However, the physical differences between the species are subtle, which may explain why the new species was not recognised as such for so long.

Boliviana has white petals when it buds, compared to the maroon shade of V. amazonica. The underside of its leaves are also smoother, while its seeds are spherical in shape, not ellipsoid.

Guinness World Records Managing Editor, Adam Millward, said: “Giants of nature never fail to capture our audience’s imagination – and who would have thought that a plant as big as Victoria boliviana could have gone under the radar for so long?

“Thanks to the research efforts of the horticulturalists and scientists at Kew in collaboration with Bolivian partners shining a light on this botanical mystery we can finally give this wondrous waterlily the much-deserved recognition.”

The botanical garden is now the only place in the world where all three species of the waterlily can be seen side by side.

Queen Victoria became the namesake of all the water lily plants after she saved the garden from closure by supporting a campaign to bequeath it to the nation in the 1830s.