# Nymphaea lotus 'Zenkeri' Propagation



## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi All,

I had a bulb-let of this plant for over a year in my garage (in water) and it never anything. Finally this spring I noticed a couple of very small (dime size) leaves so when I set up the 75 gallon I added to the tank. It must like montmorillonite clay substrates because it really took off. After a couple of months it was doing well and putting out leaves of noticeable size.

75 Gallon 05/09/2014 (N. lotus 'Zenkeri' on right)









Around the beginning of June it started putting up leaves to the surface. After a couple of weeks I removed any leaves taller than about 12" and moved the plant to a different area near the driftwood. Today I was doing my weekly water change and what did I see; a plant-let with three small leaves growing on the top of one of the older leaves. It seems to be attached where the leaf joins the stem. Is this normal for this species? My research has uncovered bulb-lets from division and flowers creating seeds but not plant-lets form on leaves. Please note that as the plant-let has formed the leaf has started showing signs of pinkish discoloration followed by an area of necrosis.

Nymphaea lotus 'Zenkeri' plant-let with 'mother leaf'


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Today I was doing my weekly water change and what did I see; a plant-let with three small leaves growing on the top of one of the older leaves. It seems to be attached where the leaf joins the stem. Is this normal for this species? My research has uncovered bulb-lets from division and flowers creating seeds but not plant-lets form on leaves.


Viviparous plant formation like you've observed has been noted to be a more common occurrence with tropical water lilies (versus hardy or temperate water lilies). I don't think i could tell you which species specifically reproduce viviparously, but considering that most aquarium plants are somewhat tropical in origin, this doesn't really surprise me.

Here's a link to a quick google search result i found:

http://www.victoria-adventure.org/waterlilies_images/sean_vivips/page1.html


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

The plant is not _N. lotus_. That species is not viviparous from leaves, but occasionally is from flowers. The plant you have is _N. micrantha_, which is very viviparous from emersed leaves, rarely so from submerged foliage. I grow both species outdoors in my ponds during the summer.

It's interesting that you say the bulblet was dormant for a very long time. I've noticed the same thing with leaf offsets of this species. You will swear they are dead, but some environmental change will trigger growth. I think heat does the trick, but I'm not sure about that.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Jeffyfunk and Michael,

Thank for the clarification on the identification and confirmation on the reproduction method.


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## Silver R. (Jan 17, 2014)

*Nymphaea micrantha - August 7, 2014*


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Silver R, welcome to APC! That is exactly how the flowers on my plants look, including the pale mottling on the petals.


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## Silver R. (Jan 17, 2014)

I have never seen _Nymphaea lotus_ being vegetatively viviparous from flower but always by stolons/runners.
But today I have a very good example of vegetative vivipary from flower.









*Nymphaea "Wanvisa" viviparous from flower - August 11, 2014*


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