Giant Lily Pad

This is one amazing plant! The story of its pollination alone is wonderful. This from Fairchild Botanic Garden's webpage: 'The Victoria's nocturnal flowers are impressive, as is their bizarre pollination biology. The flowers open a pure white on their first night and emit a strong pineapple-like scent. This attracts the scarab beetle pollinator (Cylocephata castaneal) to the flower, which is functionally female that evening and receptive to pollen brought by the beetle. As daybreak approaches, the flower begins to close, trapping the beetle inside. During the day the flower becomes functionally male, indicated by the maturation of the anthers and the release of pollen. The beetle becomes coated with the pollen, but cannot fertilize the flower because it is now functionally male. The flower opens the second evening, having changed color from white to pink. The beetle is released and seeks out another white, fragrant, receptive flower, where it will deposit pollen to allow seed set.' and the link to more great facts. The leaf design is also well worth a read: http://www.virtualherbarium.org/gardenviews/victoriaamazonica.html