Leaf of Giant Amazon Water-lily (Victoria amazonica) Named after Queen Victoria, this plant blooms at night in the warm, slow-moving waters of the Amazon basin. “Giant” is an apt descriptor: Each leaf can grow up to nine feet in diameter and the plant an span some 50 feet across. The elaborate network of air-filled veins on the leaf’s underside give it the structural strength to support almost 90 pounds on its surface. Photo: Jonathan Singer
