amazonica, did not come into widespread use until the 20th century. History Victoria regia, as it was named, was described by Tadeáš Haenke in 1801. It was once the subject of rivalry between Victorian gardeners in England. Always on the lookout for a spectacular new species with which to impress their peers, Victorian “gardeners” such as the Duke of Devonshire and the Duke of Northumberland started a well-mannered competition to become the first to cultivate and bring to flower this enormous lily. In the end, the two aforementioned dukes became the first to achieve this, Joseph Paxton (for the Duke of Devonshire) being the first in November 1849 by replicating the lily's warm swampy habitat (not easy in winter in England with only coal-fired boilers for heating), and a “Mr Ivison” the second and more constantly successful (for Northumberland) at Syon House. The species captured the imagination of the public and was the subject of several dedicated monographs. The botanical illustrations of cultivated specimens in Fitch and W.J. Hooker's 1851 work Victoria Regia received critical acclaim in the Athenaeum, “they are accurate, and they are beautiful”. “The Duke of Devonshire presented Queen Victoria with one of the first of these flowers and named it in her honour. The lily, with ribbed undersurface and leaves veining “li” e transverse girders and supports”, “as Paxton's inspiration for The Crystal Palace, a building four times the size of St. Peter's in Rome.” Gallery References External links Nymphaeaceae Aquatic plants Flora of the Amazon Flora of Brazil National symbols of Guyana Flora of Guyana Flora of Peru Plants described in 1836 Garden plants of South America Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria Taxa named by Eduard Friedrich Poeppig