Prague Botanical Garden: The world’s smallest water lily bloomed
The dwarf water lily (Nymphaea thermarum) is extremely rare. It was discovered in 1987 and until 2008 it was located in only one place in the world, in a thermal spring in Rwanda. But it also died out there, so now it can only be seen in botanical gardens, which also includes the one in Prague.
“An important role of botanical gardens is the protection of the gene pool of plants. It is both about preserving plants that are rare and endangered, and also about maintaining the gene pool of species that no longer occur in nature at all. An example is the dwarf water lily. We have been growing it in our botanical garden since October 2018. It also bloomed regularly in our growing facilities. We have now decided to show the specimens we have available to visitors as well,” said Vlastik Rybka, deputy of the expert department of the main Botanical Garden. m of Prague.
Dwarf water lily gets its apt name from its size – the diameter of one bunch of the plant is up to 15 centimetres, while one leaf usually measures only one to two centimetres. The difference can be seen especially when compared to the largest water lily plant in the world, the leaves of the royal Victoria are up to three meters long! The flowers of the dwarf lily are white-yellow, they open in the morning and close again in the afternoon. Bloom at any time of the year.
Botanical garden in Troja from a bird’s eye view
When to the garden
From January to March 2023, the Botanic Garden offers night tours of the Fata Morgana greenhouse called The Jungle That Doesn’t Sleep. Guided tours in the evening are always held on Fridays and Saturdays until repeatedly starting at 5 p.m. Participation must be booked in advance on the garden site. The outdoor exhibitions of the Trojan Garden are accessible free of charge until the end of February.
Opening hours of the Botanical Garden from November to February:
Outdoor exhibition: Mon–Sun 9.00–16.00
Fata Morgana Greenhouse: Tue–Sun 9:00–16:00
Wine shop St. Clary: Mon–Sun 10.00–16.30