LILY POND, BOTANIC GARDENS

The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria is one of the world's leading botanic gardens and a centre of excellence for horticulture, science and education. The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria is dedicated to the conservation, display and enjoyment of plants and extends over two locations, Melbourne and Cranbourne, and incorporates the National Herbarium of Victoria and the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology, which is based at The University of Melbourne.

Parts of the lake system at Melbourne Gardens are remnants of a natural water system that pre-dates European settlement of Melbourne. The lake system includes Central Lake, Fern Gully, Nymphaea Lily Lake, Ornamental Lake and the surrounding catchments. Ornamental Lake and Fern Gully are the remnants of a natural water system that pre-dated European settlement of Melbourne, and would have been a food source (particularly Short-finned eels) for local Aboriginal people. Today, the lake system provides habitat for an abundance of aquatic flora and fauna and is also an important part of the heritage landscape.

Members of the Nymphaceae family are commonly called water lilies and live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight large-flowered genera with about 70 species. The genus Nymphaea contains about 35 species in the Northern Hemisphere. The genus Victoria contains two species of giant water lilies endemic to South America.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.