Flora and Fauna of Tropical Asia

The tropical world is filled with incredible plants, some quite astonishing in shape, colour, size and behaviour. One of the more extraordinary among them is Queen Victoria’s water lily (Victoria amazonica). As the flower’s latin name suggests, it originates in the Amazon region, but it has since spread to many parts of the tropical world where it is often cultivated in botanical gardens and other large outdoor bodies of water. It was even grown successfully in England, in the 19th century, in a pool heated by coal-fired boilers. The large white flower was then presented to… Continue reading →