Victoria Regia (later known as Victoria amazonica), depicted by Walter Hood Fitch (1817-1892). RCIN 1122365. © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2025 | Royal Collection Trust, by kind permission.
The largest of the waterlilies, this was first classified by botanist John Lindley in 1837, and was named in Queen Victoria's honour at the beginning of her reign. Joanna Yeomans explains the interest that it aroused: "The plant was described as growing an inch an hour and its flower was a foot in circumference.... It was an emblem of the new monarch whose imperial grandeur ruled over many domains all over the world." Unfortunately though, it proved hard to propagate in this country. W.J. Hooker had to admit in 1847 that "the gorgeous Water-Lily" had "not yet produced its blossoms in England" (1-2). In fact, having been the first to describe the plant, he failed to come first in the race to cultivate one that bloomed: that honour went instead to Joseph Paxton, who managed the feat in 1849, in a heated tank at the Duke of Devonshire's new greenhouse at Chatsworth. Paxton proudly sent the first flower to the Queen.
A little over six months later, explains Yeomans, in June 1850, the same feat was managed at Kew. The plant continued to flower right through till Christmas. Hooker, not to be entirely outdone by Paxton, produced a splendid folio volume of 1851, with Walter Hood Fitch's lithographs of the plant in bloom locally, at last. This was also presented to the Queen, and is in the Royal Collection. The giant waterlily which caused so much excitement in England, and became a popular design motif, is the national flower of Guyana. [Click on the image to enlarge it.] — Jacqueline Banerjee
Related Material
- Inside the Waterlily House (1852) in Kew Gardens (designed to showcase this marvellous new waterlily)
- Waterlilies (design on silk tissue, attributed to the Silver Studio, 1894) Waterlilies (printed velveteen, c. 1900, again attributed)
Bibliography
Hooker, W.J. Description of Victoria Regia or Great Water-Lily of South America. London: Reeve Brothers, 1847. Google Books. Free ebook.
Victoria Regia: or, illustrations of the Royal Water-lily, in a series of figures chiefly made from specimens flowering at Syon and at Kew / by Walter Fitch; with descriptions by Sir W.J. Hooker. 1851. Royal Collection Trust. Web. 26 November 2025.
Yeomans, Joanna. "Victoria amazonica - inspiring a nation." Kew. Web. 26 November 2025. https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/victoria-amazonica-inspiring-a-nation
Created 26 November 2025