Nymphaea violacea Lehm.
NYMPHAEACEAE
Synonymy
Common Name: Nymphaea, Water Lily
Aboriginal Language Names: Jaminjung, Ngaliwurru, Nungali: Dagud (Jam), Nardi (Ngal), Nyanadi (Nung).. Jaru: binanyi (N), garrja (W).. MalakMalak, Matngala: Kuyut. Mangarrayi, Yangman: Larrajal (Mang), Yigigurlan (Mang). Ngarinyman: Jigamuru. Wagiman: lalin, malirrawin.. Warray: mabul (lighter flowers), ginyini (darker flowers).
Description: Perennials or annuals, glabrous. Petioles to c. 2 m long, 2-4 mm diam. Blades ovate to broadly elliptic, 6.5-31 cm long, 4-26 cm wide, glabrous throughout; veins 4-8 pairs at base, slightly raised on undersurface; sinus open; basal lobes acute to obtuse; margins more or less entire to sinuate or irregularly dentate; teeth not spinescent; apex obtuse to rounded. Flowers sweetly and strongly scented, day-opening. Sepals 4, green with purple striations to sometimes purple, lanceolate to elliptic or oblong, 30-100 mm long, 10-28 mm wide, 10-13-nerved; apex subacute to obtuse. Petals 15-32, pale blue to purple, sometimes white, elliptic to oblong or obovate, 25-90 mm long, 8-35 mm wide; apex subacute to obtuse. Stamens more than 150, separated from petals, 8-35 mm long; filaments linear, 5-23 mm long, c. 1 (2) mm wide; anthers 3-11 mm long; connective extension less than 1.5 mm long. Stigmas 14-28, oblanceolate, 3-5 mm long, lacking apical appendages. Berry depressed-globular, 2-4 cm long, 2.5-5 cm diam. Seeds dark green, ellipsoidal, 1.6-1.8 mm long, 1-1.2 mm diam., glabrous, almost smooth; epidermal cells isodiametric to oblong.
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Notes: The most common of the nymphaeas, N. violacea often grows in shallower water than N. macrosperma and N. pubescens. Plants in deeper water tend to develop large, more dentate leaves and larger flowers with more stigmas, sometimes also with dark purple sepals. Specimens from the Victoria River area and adjacent areas of WA tend to have reddish leaf undersurfaces.
Distribution
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Specimens
Observations
Cultivated
Introduced Status: Native to NT
Distribution Notes: Widespread and common in the Top End of NT, extending south to the Victoria River.
Bioregion: Arnhem Coast, Arnhem Plateau, Cape York Peninsula, Central Arnhem, Daly Basin, Dampierland, Darwin Coastal, Gulf Coastal, Gulf Fall and Uplands, Gulf Plains, Northern Kimberley, Ord Victoria Plain, Pine Creek, Sturt Plateau, Tanami, Tiwi Cobourg, Victoria Bonaparte
International: New Guinea and tropical Australia
Habitat: Typically growing in seasonally inundated areas to c. 2 m deep, this species can be abundant in seasonal swamps, on the floodplain back-water swamps, billabong fringes, and along creeks and drainage channels; on clay or sand.
Ecological Attributes
Flowering: all year
Fruiting: Mar-Aug
Other Attributes
Conservation Status (TPWCA): Least Concern
Restricted Range Taxon: N
NT Parks: Black Jungle / Lambells Lagoon Conservation Reserve, Djukbinj National Park, Elsey National Park, Fish River Gorge Block, Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve, Garig Gunak Barlu National Park, Howard Springs Hunting Reserve, Judbarra / Gregory National Park, Kakadu National Park, Keep River National Park, Keep River National Park Extension (Proposed), Limmen National Park, Litchfield National Park, Nitmiluk National Park, Town of Jabiru within Kakadu
Flora Description Source: Floodplain Flora - A flora of the coastal floodplains of the Northern Territory, Australia
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Specimens