Editing Nymphaeaceae

{{Short description|Family of plants}}
{{Redirect|Lily pad}}
{{Technical|date=May 2021}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|130|0}}[[Early Cretaceous]] – Recent
| image = Nymphaea_nouchali5.JPG
| image_caption = ''[[Nymphaea nouchali]]''
| taxon = Nymphaeaceae
| authority = [[Richard Anthony Salisbury|Salisb.]]<ref name="apgiii" />
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
'''Extant genera'''<ref name="POWO, 2023">{{cite POWO |id=77126577-1 |title=''Nymphaeaceae'' Salisb. |accessdate=22 July 2023}}</ref>
* ''[[Barclaya]]'' 
* ''[[Euryale (plant)|Euryale]]''
* ''[[Nuphar]]'' 
* ''[[Nymphaea]]'' 
* ''[[Victoria (plant)|Victoria]]'' 
'''Fossil genera'''
* †''[[Allenbya (plant)|Allenbya]]''
* †''[[Barclayopsis]]''
* †''[[Jaguariba]]'' 
* †''[[Notonuphar]]'' 
* †''[[Nuphaea]]''
* †''[[Microvictoria]]''
* †''[[Monetianthus]]''
* †''[[Susiea]]'' 
|synonyms = 
*Barclayaceae
*Euryalaceae
*Nupharaceae
*Nympheaceae
|synonyms_ref = <ref>Nymphaeaceae. (n.d.). GBIF | Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved August 4, 2023, from https://www.gbif.org/species/103019924</ref>
}}
[[File:Barclaya longifolia in Thailand crooped.jpg|thumb|Flowering ''Barclaya longifolia'' specimen, Thailand]]
[[File:Victoria cruziana flower.jpg|thumb|Flower of ''[[Victoria cruziana]]'', Santa Cruz water lily]]
[[File:Euryale ferox kz06.jpg|thumb|Flowering ''Euryale ferox'' specimen cultivated in the Botanischer Garten Berlin-Dahlem, Germany]]
[[File:Nuphar variegata 15-p.bot-nuphar.vari-002.jpg|thumb|Flowering and fruiting ''Nuphar variegata'' specimen]]

'''Nymphaeaceae''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|n|ɪ|m|f|i|ˈ|eɪ|s|i|.|iː|,_|-|ˌ|aɪ}}) is a family of [[flowering plant]]s, commonly called '''water lilies'''. They live as [[rhizomatous]] aquatic herbs in [[temperate climate|temperate]] and [[tropical climate]]s around the world. The family contains five genera<ref name="WFO">{{cite web|url= http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-7000000417 |title=''Nymphaeaceae'' Salisb. Ann. Bot. (König & Sims) 2: 70. 1805. (Jun 1805) |date=2022 |work=World Flora Online |publisher=The World Flora Online Consortium |access-date=13 July 2022}}</ref> with about 70 known species.<ref name="Christenhusz-Byng2016">{{cite journal |author1=Christenhusz, M. J. M. |author2=Byng, J. W. |name-list-style=amp | year = 2016 | title = The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase | journal = Phytotaxa | volume = 261 | pages = 201–217 | url = http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/download/phytotaxa.261.3.1/20598 | doi = 10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 | issue = 3 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Water lilies are [[root]]ed in [[soil]] in bodies of water, with [[leaves]] and [[flower]]s floating on or rising from the surface. Leaves are oval and heart-shaped in ''[[Barclaya]]''. Leaves are round, with a radial notch in ''[[Nymphaea]]'' and ''[[Nuphar]]'', but fully circular in ''[[Victoria (plant)|Victoria]]'' and ''[[Euryale ferox|Euryale]]''.

Water lilies are a well-studied family of plants because their large flowers with multiple unspecialized parts were initially considered to represent the floral pattern of the earliest flowering plants. Later genetic studies confirmed their evolutionary position as [[basal angiosperms]]. Analyses of [[floral morphology]] and molecular characteristics and comparisons with a [[sister taxon]], the family [[Cabombaceae]], indicate, however, that the flowers of extant water lilies with the most floral parts are more derived than the genera with fewer floral parts.{{clarify|date=January 2021}} Genera with more floral parts, ''Nuphar'', ''Nymphaea'', ''Victoria'', have a [[Pollination syndrome#Beetles|beetle]] [[pollination syndrome]], while genera with fewer parts are pollinated by [[Pollination syndrome#Flies|flies]] or [[Pollination syndrome#Bees|bees]], or are self- or [[wind-pollinated]].<ref name="Non-molecular 1999, pp. 28-46">Phylogeny, Classification and Floral Evolution of Water Lilies (Nymphaeaceae; Nymphaeales):
A Synthesis of Non-molecular, rbcL, matK, and 18S rDNA Data, Donald H. Les, Edward L. Schneider, Donald J. Padgett, [[Pamela S. Soltis]], Douglas E. Soltis and Michael Zanis, Systematic Botany, Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999, pp. 28-46</ref> Thus, the large number of relatively unspecialized floral organs in the Nymphaeaceae is not an ancestral condition for the clade.

==Description==
=== Vegetative characteristics ===
The Nymphaeaceae are annual or perennial,<ref name="Christenhusz et al., 2017">Christenhusz,&nbsp;M.&nbsp;J.&nbsp;M., Fay,&nbsp;M.&nbsp;F., Chase,&nbsp;M.&nbsp;W. (2017). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Plants_of_the_World/LLo7DwAAQBAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Barclaya%20flora%20of&pg=PA91&printsec=frontcover Plants of the World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Vascular Plants.] p. 91. Vereinigtes Königreich: University of Chicago Press.</ref> aquatic, [[rhizomatous]] herbs.<ref name="Christenhusz et al., 2017" /><ref name="gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org">{{Cite web|title=Family: Nymphaeaceae (water-lily family): Go Botany|url=https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/family/nymphaeaceae/|access-date=2021-05-07|website=gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org}}</ref> The family is further characterized by scattered vascular bundles in the stems, and frequent presence of [[latex]], usually with distinct, stellate-branched [[sclereid]]s projecting into the air canals. Hairs are simple, usually producing [[mucilage]] (slime).{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Leaves are alternate and spiral, opposite or occasionally whorled, simple, [[peltate]] or nearly so, entire to toothed or dissected, short to long [[Petiole (botany)|petiolate]], with blade submerged, floating or emergent, with palmate to pinnate venation.<ref name="gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org" /> [[Stipule]]s are either present or absent.<ref name="FNA">Nymphaeaceae in Flora of North America @ efloras.org. (n.d.). Retrieved September 5, 2024, from http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=10618</ref><ref name="Watson & Dallwitz">L. Watson, & M. J. Dallwitz. (n.d.). The families of flowering plants - Nymphaeaceae Salisb. Retrieved September 5, 2024, from https://www-archiv.fdm.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/delta/angio/www/nymphaea.htm</ref>

=== Generative characteristics ===
Flowers are solitary, bisexual, radial, with a long pedicel and usually floating or raised above the surface of the water, with girdling vascular bundles in [[Receptacle (botany)|receptacle]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ito|first=Motomi|date=1986|title=Studies in the floral morphology and anatomy of nymphaeales|journal=The Botanical Magazine Tokyo|volume=99|issue=2|pages=169–184|doi=10.1007/bf02488818|s2cid=2037133|issn=0006-808X}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Supaphon|first1=Preuttiporn|last2=Keawpiboon|first2=Chutima|last3=Preedanon|first3=Sita|last4=Phongpaichit|first4=Souwalak|last5=Rukachaisirikul|first5=Vatcharin|date=2018|title=Isolation and antimicrobial activities of fungi derived from Nymphaea lotus and Nymphaea stellata|journal=Mycoscience|volume=59|issue=5|pages=415–423|doi=10.1016/j.myc.2018.02.012|s2cid=89844294 |issn=1340-3540}}</ref> Some species are [[protogynous]] and primarily cross-pollinated, but because male and female stages overlap during the second day of flowering, and because it is self-compatible, self-fertilization is possible.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ervik|first1=F.|last2=Renner|first2=S.S.|last3=Johanson|first3=K.A.|date=1995|title=Breeding system and pollination of Nuphar luteum (L.) Smith (Nymphaeaceae) in Norway|journal=Flora|volume=190|issue=2|pages=109–113|doi=10.1016/s0367-2530(17)30639-4|bibcode=1995FMDFE.190..109E |issn=0367-2530}}</ref> Female and male parts of the flower are usually active at different times, to facilitate cross-pollination, although this is just one of several reproductive strategies used by these plants.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wiersema|first=John H.|date=1988|title=Reproductive Biology of Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae)|journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden|volume=75|issue=3|pages=795–804|doi=10.2307/2399367|jstor=2399367|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/35833 }}</ref>

There are 4–12 [[sepal]]s, which are distinct to [[Connation|connate]], [[imbricate]], and often petallike. Petals lacking or 8 to numerous, inconspicuous to showy, often intergrading with [[stamen]]s. Stamens are 3 to numerous, the innermost sometimes represented by staminodes. [[Filament (botany)|Filaments]] are distinct, free or [[Adnation|adnate]] to petaloid staminodes, slender and well differentiated from anthers to [[leaf shape|laminar]] and poorly differentiated from anthers; pollen grains usually monosulcate or lacking apertures. [[Carpels]] are 3 to numerous, distinct or connate.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The fruit is an aggregate of nuts, a berry, or an irregularly dehiscent fleshy spongy capsule.<ref name="gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org" /> Seeds are often arillate, more or less lacking [[endosperm]].

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Water Lilies Canada 0517.jpg|thumb|Water lilies in Ontario, Canada]]

Nymphaeaceae has been investigated systematically for decades because botanists considered their floral morphology to represent one of the earliest groups of [[angiosperms]].<ref name="Non-molecular 1999, pp. 28-46" /> Modern genetic analyses by the [[Angiosperm Phylogeny Group]] researchers has confirmed its [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] position among flowering plants.<ref name="apgiii">{{Citation |last=Angiosperm Phylogeny Group |year=2009 |title=An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=161 |issue=2 |pages=105–121 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x |doi-access=free |hdl=10654/18083 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="apgiv">{{Cite journal|author=Angiosperm Phylogeny Group |year=2016|title=An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV|journal=[[Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society]]|volume=181|issue=1|pages=1–20|issn=0024-4074|doi=10.1111/boj.12385|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="The Linnean Society of London">{{Citation |title=As easy as APG III - Scientists revise the system of classifying flowering plants |publisher=The Linnean Society of London |url=http://www.linnean.org/index.php?id=448 |access-date=2009-10-29 |date=2009-10-08 }}</ref><ref name="Horticulture Week">{{Citation |title=APG III tidies up plant family tree |publisher=[[Horticulture Week]] |url=http://www.hortweek.com/channel/OrnamentalsProduction/rss/article/943975/APG-III-tidies-plant-family-tree/ |access-date=2009-10-29 |date=2009-10-08 }}</ref> In addition, the Nymphaeaceae are more genetically diverse and geographically dispersed than other basal angiosperms.<ref>Mario Coiro & Maria Rosaria Barone Lumaga (2013): Aperture evolution in Nymphaeaceae: insights from a micromorphological and ultrastructural investigation, Grana, DOI:10.1080/00173134.2013.769626</ref><ref>Insights into the dynamics of genome size and chromosome evolution in the early diverging angiosperm lineage Nymphaeales (water lilies), Jaume Pellicer, Laura J Kelly, Carlos Magdalena, Ilia Leitch, 2013, Genome, 10.1139/gen-2013-0039</ref> Nymphaeaceae is placed in the order [[Nymphaeales]], which is the second diverging group of angiosperms after ''[[Amborella]]'' in the most widely accepted flowering plant classification system, [[APG IV system]].<ref name="apgiv" /><ref name="The Linnean Society of London" /><ref name="Horticulture Week" />

{{clade|style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%
|label1=Nymphaeaceae
|1={{clade
   |1={{clade
      |1={{clade
         |1={{clade
            |1={{clade
               |1=[[Victoria (plant)|''Victoria'']]
               |2=[[Euryale (plant)|''Euryale'']]
               }}
            |2=''[[Nymphaea]]''
            }}
         |2=''[[Ondinea]]''
         }}
      |2=''[[Barclaya]]''
      }}
   |2=''[[Nuphar]]''
   }}
}}

Nymphaeaceae is a small family of three to six genera: ''[[Barclaya]]'', ''[[Euryale ferox|Euryale]]'', ''[[Nuphar]]'', ''[[Nymphaea]]'', ''[[Ondinea]]'', and ''[[Victoria (plant)|Victoria]]''. The genus ''Barclaya'' is sometimes given rank as its own family, [[Barclayaceae]], on the basis of an extended [[perianth]] tube (combined sepals and [[petals]]) arising from the top of the [[Ovary (botany)|ovary]] and by stamens that are joined in the base. However, molecular phylogenetic work includes it in Nymphaeaceae.<ref>Les DH, Schneider EL, Padgett DJ, [[Soltis PS]], Soltis DE, Zanis M (1999) Phylogeny, classification and floral evolution of water lilies (Nymphaeaceae; Nymphaeales): a synthesis of non-molecular, rbcL, matK, and 18S rDNA data. Systematic Botany 24: 28–46.</ref> The genus ''Ondinea'' has recently been shown to be a morphologically aberrant species of ''Nymphaea'', and is now included in this genus.<ref>Löhne C, Wiersema JH, Borsch T (2009) The unusual ''Ondinea'', actually just another Australian water-lily of ''Nymphaea'' subg. ''Anecphya'' (Nymphaeaceae). Willdenowia 39: 55–58.</ref> The genera ''Euryale'', of far east Asia, and ''Victoria'', from South America, are closely related despite their geographic distance, but their relationship toward ''Nymphaea'' need further studies.<ref>Löhne C, Borsch T, Wiersema JH (2007) Phylogenetic analysis of Nymphaeales using fast-evolving and noncoding chloroplast markers. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 154: 141–163.</ref><ref>Borsch T, Löhne C, Wiersema J (2008) Phylogeny and evolutionary patterns in Nymphaeales: integrating genes, genomes and morphology. Taxon 57: 1052–1081.</ref><ref>Dkhar J, Kumaria S, Rama Rao S, Tandon P (2012) Sequence characteristics and phylogenetic implications of the nrDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS) in the genus Nymphaea with focus on some Indian representatives. Plant Systematics and Evolution 298: 93–108.</ref>

The [[Nelumbo nucifera|sacred lotus]] was once thought to be a water lily, but is now recognized to be a highly modified [[eudicot]] in its own family [[Nelumbonaceae]] of the order [[Proteales]].

=== Fossils ===
[[File:Jaguariba wiersemana, Brazil - Museum fur Naturkunde, Berlin - MB. Pb. 1999-614.jpg|thumb|right|Fossil of ''[[Jaguariba wiersemana]]'']]

Several fossil species are known, including [[Cretaceous]] representatives of ''Nymphaea'', as well as fossil genera such as ''[[Jaguariba]]'' from the Cretaceous of [[Brazil]], ''[[Allenbya (plant)|Allenbya]]'' from the [[Ypresian]] of [[British Columbia]],<ref name="Allenbya1989">{{cite journal |last1=Cevallos-Ferriz |first1=S. R. |last2=Stockey |first2=R. A. |year=1989 |title=Permineralized fruits and seeds from the Princeton chert (Middle Eocene) of British Columbia: Nymphaeaceae |journal=Botanical Gazette |volume=150 |issue=2 |pages=207–217|doi=10.1086/337765 |s2cid=86651676 }}</ref> ''[[Notonuphar]]'' from the [[Eocene]] of [[Antarctica]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=David Winship |last2=Gee |first2=Carole T. |date=1 October 2014 |title=Phylogenetic Analysis of Fossil Water Lilies Based on Leaf Architecture and Vegetative Characters: Testing Phylogenetic Hypotheses from Molecular Studies |url=https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-peabody-museum-of-natural-history/volume-55/issue-2/014.055.0208/Phylogenetic-Analysis-of-Fossil-Water-Lilies-Based-on-Leaf-Architecture/10.3374/014.055.0208.full |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=89–110 |doi=10.3374/014.055.0208 |s2cid=84253809 |issn=0079-032X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Friis |first1=Else M. |last2=Iglesias |first2=Ari |last3=Reguero |first3=Marcelo A. |last4=Mörs |first4=Thomas |date=2017-08-01 |title=Notonuphar antarctica, an extinct water lily (Nymphaeales) from the Eocene of Antarctica |journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution |language=en |volume=303 |issue=7 |pages=969–980 |doi=10.1007/s00606-017-1422-y |s2cid=23846066 |issn=2199-6881|doi-access=free |bibcode=2017PSyEv.303..969F }}</ref> ''[[Nuphaea]]'' from the Eocene of Germany,<ref name="Gee & Taylor, 2019">Gee, C. T., & Taylor, D. W. (2019). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carole-Gee/publication/334812929_An_Extinct_Transitional_Leaf_Genus_of_Nymphaeaceae_from_the_Eocene_Lake_at_Messel_Germany_Nuphaea_engelhardtii_Gee_et_David_W_Taylor_gen_et_sp_nov/links/5e344e9b92851c7f7f119674/An-Extinct-Transitional-Leaf-Genus-of-Nymphaeaceae-from-the-Eocene-Lake-at-Messel-Germany-Nuphaea-engelhardtii-Gee-et-David-W-Taylor-gen-et-sp-nov.pdf "An Extinct Transitional Leaf Genus of Nymphaeaceae from the Eocene Lake at Messel, Germany: ''Nuphaea engelhardtii'' Gee et David W. Taylor gen. et sp. nov."] ''International Journal of Plant Sciences'', 180(7), 724-736.</ref> ''[[Susiea]]'' from the Late Paleocene Almont Flora of North Dakota, USA,<ref>Taylor, W., DeVore, M. L., & Pigg, K. B. (2006). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kathleen-Pigg/publication/242342941_Susiea_newsalemae_gen_et_sp_nov_Nymphaeaceae_Euryale_-like_Seeds_from_the_Late_Paleocene_Almont_Flora_North_Dakota_USA/links/00b7d51ebd00e5e9d3000000/Susiea-newsalemae-gen-et-sp-nov-Nymphaeaceae-Euryale-like-Seeds-from-the-Late-Paleocene-Almont-Flora-North-Dakota-USA.pdf "''Susiea newsalemae'' gen. et sp. nov.(Nymphaeaceae): ''Euryale''-like seeds from the Late Paleocene Almont Flora, North Dakota, USA."] International Journal of Plant Sciences, 167(6), 1271-1278.</ref> and ''[[Barclayopsis]]'' from the Maastrichtian of Eisleben, Germany.<ref>''Barclayopsis urceolata'' Erv. Knobl., Mai. (n.d.). The International Fossil Plant Names Index (IFPNI). Retrieved December 30, 2024, from https://www.ifpni.org/species.htm?id=8DEE67A3-FE1B-58F6-36B6-215B7189280B</ref>

==Invasiveness==
The beautiful nature of water lilies has led to their widespread use as [[ornamental plant]]s. The [[Mexican waterlily]], native to the [[Gulf of Mexico|Gulf Coast]] of North America, is planted throughout the continent. It has escaped from cultivation and become invasive in some areas, such as California's [[San Joaquin Valley]]. It can infest slow-moving bodies of water and is difficult to eradicate. Populations can be controlled by cutting top growth. Herbicides can also be used to control populations using [[glyphosate]] and [[fluridone]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/IPC/encycloweedia/weedinfo/nymphaea.htm|title=Nyphaea genus|website=www.cdfa.ca.gov|access-date=2018-09-13}}</ref>

==Culture==
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2024}}

The [[Nymphaea nouchali|water lily]] is the [[National emblem|national flower]] of [[Iran]], [[Bangladesh]] and [[Sri Lanka]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hettiarachchi |first=Kumudini |date=7 November 2010 |title=The 'great pretender' |url=https://www.sundaytimes.lk/101107/Plus/plus_01.html |access-date=14 September 2024 |work=[[The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)]]}}</ref> The [[Emblem of Bangladesh]] contains a lily floating on water. It is also the birth flower for the month of July.

The Nymphaeaceae, which is also called (Nilufar Abi in Persian), can be seen in many reliefs of the Achaemenid period (552 BC) such as the statue of [[Anahita]] in the [[Persepolis]]. Lotus flower was included in [[Kaveh the blacksmith]]'s [[Derafsh]] and later as the flag of the Sasanian Empire [[Derafsh Kaviani]]. Today, it is known as the symbol of Iranians [[Solar Hijri Calendar]].

Lily pads, also known as ''[[Seeblatt|Seeblätter]]'', are a charge in Northern European heraldry, often coloured red ([[gules]]), and appear on the [[flag of Friesland]] and the [[coat of arms of Denmark]] (in the latter case often replaced by red [[Heart symbol|hearts]]).

The water lily has a special place in [[Sangam literature]] and Tamil poetics, where it is considered symbolic of the grief of separation; it is considered to evoke imagery of the sunset, the seashore, and the shark.

===Heraldry===
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
Blason Antoine Dubois (1756-1837).svg|The emblem of [[surgeon]] and [[obstetrician]] to [[Napoleon]], [[Nobility of the First French Empire|Baron]] [[Antoine Dubois]] (1756–1837).
Cyril Newall Arms.svg|Personal coat of arms of [[Cyril Newall, 1st Baron Newall]] (1946)
National emblem of Bangladesh.svg|[[National Emblem of Bangladesh]] (1972–present)
File:Escudo de Montederramo (Orense).svg|Coat of arms of [[Montederramo]], [[Ourense Province|Ourense]].
</gallery>

=== In visual arts ===
[[File:Claude Monet Nympheas 1915 Musee Marmottan Paris.jpg|thumb|''Nymphéas'', Monnet, 1915, [[Musée Marmottan Monet]].]]

Water lilies were depicted by the [[List of French artists|French artist]] [[Claude Monet]] (1840–1926) in a [[Water Lilies (Monet series)|series of paintings]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Muir |first=Kimberley |last2=Sutherland |first2=Ken |date=2021-02-09 |title=Color, Chemistry, and Creativity in Monet's Water Lilies |url=https://www.artic.edu/articles/862/color-chemistry-and-creativity-in-monets-water-lilies |journal=Art Institute Chicago |language=en}}</ref>

=== The Maya ===
[[File:Ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America (1917) (17572484174).jpg|thumb|Maya iconography with water lilies]]

The main job of the [[Maya rulers|Maya]] rulers during [[pre-Columbian]] [[Mesoamerica]] was to obtain clean and drinkable water for their citizens during both the wet and dry seasons. Their success in accomplishing this is what allowed them to grow their polity by attracting dry-season laborers. They did this by constructing water systems such as [[reservoirs]], wetland reclamation, and [[dams]] and [[Channel (geography)|channels]] to capture and store rainwater. With their knowledge of the wetland biosphere, they transformed artificial reservoirs into wetland biospheres. One way that they tested whether the water systems were working properly was if the Nymphaeaceae were thriving. Water lilies became a visual sign of water cleanliness, so the Maya elite began to associate themselves with the flowers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lucero |first1=Lisa J. |last2=Gunn |first2=Joel D. |last3=Scarborough |first3=Vernon L. |title=Climate Change and Classic Maya Water Management |journal=Water |date=1 April 2011 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=479–94 |doi=10.3390/w3020479 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 

The Maya began to use water lily iconography depicted on [[stelae]], monumental architecture, murals, and in [[Hieroglyph|hieroglyphic writing]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Puleston |first1=Dennis E. |title=Social Process in Maya Prehistory: Studies in Honor of Sir Eric Thompson |chapter=The art and archaeology of hydraulic agriculture in the Maya lowlands |date=1977 |publisher=Academic Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-12-322050-9 |pages=449–467 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/3384967 }}</ref> Even in Maya settlements like [[Palenque]], where the main water supplies were springs and flowing streams (places where water lilies cannot grow), the flowers were prevalent in their iconographic records. Aristocrats and [[Maya religion|religious figures]] wore masks and/or headdresses during celebratory events that had water lilies and/or water lily symbols to appear like gods.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=McDonald |first=Andrew |title=Water Lily and Cosmic Serpent: Equivalent Conduits of the Maya Spirit Realm |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology |date=2012 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=74–107|doi=10.2993/0278-0771-32.1.74 |s2cid=55165881 }}</ref> There is also evidence that water lilies were used as cultural [[Entheogen|entheogenic]]. Some interpretations of ritual scenes drawn out by the Maya have been blood being extracted from perforated body parts. However, more close examinations show that this is instead a liquid flowing directly from water lily flowers that were on the heads of certain gods.<ref name=":1" /> It is likely that the Maya ingested these plants to create a non-ordinary state of consciousness, which makes sense because there is a class of opiate alkaloids in Nymphaeaceae.<ref name=":1" /> Overall, these examples show just how important this specific form of water symbolism was throughout the Maya region.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lucero |first1=Lisa J. |title=The collapse of the Classic Maya: A case for the role of water control |journal=American Anthropologist |date=September 2002 |volume=104 |issue=3 |pages=814–826 |doi=10.1525/aa.2002.104.3.814 |url=http://publish.illinois.edu/valleyofpeace/files/2019/07/collapseoftheclassicLucero2002.pdf |access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Lilypad.jpg|Lily pads floating in a lake in Toronto, Canada
File:Matkusjoki 20210709 142526.jpg|Lily pads floating on Matkusjoki River in [[Iisalmi]], Finland
File:Water Lily Sambalpur.jpg|Water lily at [[Sambalpur]]
File:Claude Monet 038.jpg|''Water Lilies,'' 1920-1926, [[Musée de l'Orangerie]]
File:Nuphar pumila (4) 1200.jpg|''Nuphar pumila'' 2014 in China
File:Water lily opening bloom 20fps.ogv|Time-lapse video of a water lily blooming
File:Nymphaea caerulea 01.jpg|Water lily blooming in Sankarpur of [[West Bengal]]
File:Blue-Lotus.jpg|Blue water lily of [[Bangladesh]]
File:Henllys Water Lilies.jpg|Yellow water lilies in [[Wales]], 2021
File:Water lilies in Nairobi, Kenya.jpg|Water lilies in [[Nairobi]], [[Kenya]]
File:Water Lily 2018.jpg|White Water Lily
File:Nymphaea 'Detective Erika' (ISG), jardin jungle.jpg|''Nymphaea'' 'Detective Erika' in the [[Jardin Jungle Karlostachys|jungle garden]] in France
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of plants known as lily]]
* ''[[Nelumbo]]''
* [[Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden|Pamplemousses Botanical Garden]], famous for its giant water lilies

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* ''The genera of the Nymphaeaceae and Ceratophyllaceae in the southeastern United States''. J. Arnold Arbor. [http://waterflower.co.il/ 40]: 94-112.
* Perry D. Slocum: ''Waterlilies and Lotuses''. Timber Press 2005, {{ISBN|0-88192-684-1}}. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=V62dfNKTPP0C&pg=PA79&dq=%22Nymphaea+colorata%22&lr=&sig=jbavgQBqVNQuB3sXqTneC9Htz64#PPA79,M1 Restricted online version at Google Books].)
* Thomas Borsch, Cornelia Löhne, Mame Samba Mbaye, and John H. Wiersema. 2011. [https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Towards-a-complete-species-tree-of-Nymphaea%3A-light-Borsch-L%C3%B6hne/dfbfa123c1968aa9539cd799cd45eaa8c696e00e "Towards a complete species tree of Nymphaea: shedding further light on subg. Brachyceras and its relationships to the Australian water-lilies"]. ''Telopea'' '''13'''(1-2): 193-217. {{Doi|10.7751/telopea20116014}}.
* {{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=David Winship |last2=Gee |first2=Carole T. |date=1 October 2014 |title=Phylogenetic Analysis of Fossil Water Lilies Based on Leaf Architecture and Vegetative Characters: Testing Phylogenetic Hypotheses from Molecular Studies |url=https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-peabody-museum-of-natural-history/volume-55/issue-2/014.055.0208/Phylogenetic-Analysis-of-Fossil-Water-Lilies-Based-on-Leaf-Architecture/10.3374/014.055.0208.full |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=89–110 |doi=10.3374/014.055.0208 |s2cid=84253809 |issn=0079-032X}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nymphaeaceae}}
{{Wikispecies}}
* [http://greif.uni-greifswald.de/floragreif/?fam=Nymphaeaceae&gen=&spec=&flora_search=taxon Nymphaeaceae of Mongolia in FloraGREIF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515140925/http://greif.uni-greifswald.de/floragreif/?fam=Nymphaeaceae&gen=&spec=&flora_search=taxon |date=2013-05-15 }}

{{Angiosperm families}}
{{Symbols of Bangladesh}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q148650|from2=Q2884311|from3=Q81931705|from4=Q81931488}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Nymphaeaceae| ]]
[[Category:Angiosperm families]]
[[Category:Aquatic plants]]
[[Category:Extant Early Cretaceous first appearances]]