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The giant waterlily genus Victoria now has three accepted living species: Victoria amazonica, Victoria cruziana and Victoria boliviana. Before 2022 there were two. The third species was formally described that year by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and collaborators.
The headline’s phrase “almost doubles” overstates the change. Going from two recognized species to three is an increase of one species, or 50 percent, rather than a near doubling.
What changed in the count
For most of the period before 2022, Victoria amazonica and Victoria cruziana were the two recognized giant waterlilies. A plant from Bolivia had long been suspected of being distinct, but it had not been formally named. Kew’s 2022 announcement describes the new species as the first giant Victoria recognized in more than a century. The formal description of V. boliviana was published in Frontiers in Plant Science on 4 July 2022, and Kew’s Plants of the World Online now accepts it as Victoria boliviana Magdalena & L.T.Sm., with 2022 given as its year of publication.
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How the third species was recognized
The discovery team did not rely on a single new collection. Kew’s account describes three kinds of evidence that were combined.
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A specimen that had been misidentified for 177 years
Kew held a herbarium specimen of V. boliviana for 177 years under the name V. amazonica. The case shows that a species can sit in existing collections unrecognized until someone with the right comparative knowledge examines it. Historical records and herbarium material were used alongside it.
Observations of cultivated plants and morphology
Horticultural comparisons of living plants and observable differences in morphology supported the case that the Bolivian plant was distinct from the other two species. Kew’s sources give a concrete description of V. boliviana but do not provide a complete measured comparison of all three species.
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DNA evidence
DNA analysis placed V. boliviana as genetically different from V. amazonica and V. cruziana. Kew reports that it is closest to V. cruziana, with the two lineages estimated to have diverged around one million years ago. That divergence figure is the study’s estimate, not a directly observed date.
Natalia Przelomska, a biodiversity genomics researcher at Kew, put the broader point this way: “in the face of a fast rate of biodiversity loss, describing new species is a task of fundamental importance; we hope that our multidisciplinary framework might inspire other researchers who are seeking approaches to rapidly and robustly identify new species.”
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The three species at a glance
The table below lists only what Kew’s sources state. Where a cell reads “not stated”, the sources used for this article do not give that detail for the species, and the gap should not be read as a difference between the plants.
| Species | Status in Kew’s records | Native range and habitat | Notable detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria amazonica | Recognized before 2022 | Not stated in the sources used for this article | One of the two giant waterlilies recognized before 2022 |
| Victoria cruziana | Recognized before 2022 | Not stated in the sources used for this article | Closest known relative of V. boliviana, according to Kew’s DNA results |
| Victoria boliviana | Formally described 2022; accepted by Plants of the World Online | Northern Bolivia, per Kew’s taxonomic record; Kew’s 2023 summary describes it as confined to wetlands of Amazonian Bolivia | Specimen held at Kew for 177 years under the name V. amazonica |
Kew’s 2023 summary and its taxonomic record describe the habitat in slightly different terms: the taxonomic record refers to the wet tropical biome, while the summary places the species in wetlands of Amazonian Bolivia. Both descriptions point to the same country, but they should not be merged into a single definitive habitat statement.
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Two figures to read in context
The 3.2-metre leaf
Kew’s 2023 account reports a maximum diameter of 3.2 metres for the largest recorded V. boliviana leaf. The leaf was grown at La Rinconada Gardens in Bolivia and measured on 3 February 2012. Kew describes it as the largest undivided leaf of any plant on record. It is a single record, not a typical leaf size for the species, and it should not be used as a general measurement for giant waterlilies.
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Kew’s 2022 announcement gives an estimated divergence of about one million years between V. boliviana and V. cruziana. The figure comes from the team’s DNA analysis and is an estimate. It describes when the lineages separated, not when the plants were first seen or named.
Conservation status
Kew’s 2023 account lists V. boliviana as Vulnerable. Conservation assessments are revised over time, and the sources used here do not confirm a later assessment. Check the IUCN Red List for the current status before citing it.
Where to see the species
Kew reports that its Princess of Wales Conservatory displays all three species. Its 2026 update notes that the display has been affected by work on the Waterlily House. Check Kew’s current visitor information before planning a trip to see a particular plant.
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