NYMPHAEACEAE - Water Lily Family
Perennial aquatic herbs
with large rhizomes
Leaves alternate, floating,
pinnately veined, long-petiolate, peltate
Flowers axillary or solitary,
bisexual, actinomorphic
Seed with scanty endosperm but with abundant
perisperm, perisperm is derived from the
nucellus, which is a chief part of the young ovule. This
family has many characteristics of monocots and its relationship to
monocots has been a topic of much discussion. In some treatments, the
genus Nelumbo (lotus) is
included in the Nymphaeaceae but while Nelumbo bears some
resemblance to this group, morphological and molecular evidence
clearly indicate that Nelumbo does not belong in this
family.
5 genera, 80 species, there are 50 species in the genus
Nymphaea
Economic importance - horticultural (water
lilies)
Medicinal uses - Root tea from Nymphaea odorata used for
sores, to stop bleeding, and for bowel complaints but large doses may
be toxic.
Diagnostic characteristics - aquatics herbs with large rhizomes,
flowers often with many showy undifferentiated parts
IMAGE GALLERY
FLOWERING
PLANT GATEWAY
