Nuphar

Key takeaways

Nuphar belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nuphar to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nuphar from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nuphar is a genus of aquatic plants in the family Nymphaeaceae, with a temperate to subarctic Northern Hemisphere distribution. Common names include water-lily (Eurasian species; shared with many other genera in the same family), pond-lily, alligator-bonnet or bonnet lily, and spatterdock (North American species).

Description

Nuphar species are aquatic, perennial, heterophyllous herbs growing from branching rhizomes, which are not stoloniferous. The rhizomes bear conspicuous leaf scars. The adventitious roots grow underneath and at the side of the rhizome. The leaves can be submerged, floating, or emergent. Their lamina can be ovate, elliptic, orbicular, linear, obovate, or lanceolate. The lamina has an entire margin, but it can be crisped in submerged leaves. The long, flattened, winged, or cylindrical petioles can be pubescent or glabrous. The flowers are solitary, subglobose, diurnal, pedunculate, floating or emergent, with glabrous to pubescent peduncles. The flowers usually have 5–9 (but up to 12) persistent sepals, which are yellow, green or red and oblong, obovate or orbiculate. The numerous, oblong to spathulate petals are inconspicuous and hidden by the sepals. The yellow or red stamens with strap-like filaments are recurved at dehiscence. The monocolpate pollen grains are 40–71 μm long and 30.4–60 μm wide. The gynoecium consists of 4–36 fused carpels. The fruit is 0.5–5 centimetres (1⁄4–2 in) wide, ovoid to urceolate, borne on straight peduncles, and bears smooth, exarillate seeds up to 6 millimetres (1⁄4 in) long.

Taxonomy

The genus Nuphar Sm. was published by James Edward Smith in 1809. The type species is Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm. The genus Nuphar Sm. has several synonyms: Nymphona Bubani published by Pietro Bubani in 1901, Nenuphar Link published by Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link in 1822, Nymphozanthus Rich. published by Louis Claude Marie Richard in 1808, and Ropalon Raf. published by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1837. The genus has been divided into two sections: the autonymous section Nuphar sect. Nuphar with Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm. as the type species, as well as the section Nuphar sect. Astylus Padgett published by Donald Jay Padgett in 1999 with Nuphar advena (Aiton) W.T.Aiton as the type species. The number of species in the genus is still under review. Until the mid-20th century, some botanists treated the genus as just a single variable species (for which the European N. lutea has priority), while some other authorities accepted about a dozen more species on the basis of traditional taxonomic standards. Recent molecular work has shown that there are substantial differences between the Eurasian species (sect. Nuphar) and American species (sect. Astylus), except for North American N. microphylla which clusters with the Eurasian species. Molecular taxonomy has shown conclusively that recognition of so few species is out of the question, and forced an increased number of recognised species; some sources list about seventy. The Kew Gardens plant list includes over twenty accepted species, subspecies and varieties; it also has a similar number as yet unresolved, together with over twenty synonyms.

Species Nuphar sect. Astylus Padgett

Nuphar advena (Aiton) W.T.Aiton – Spatterdock †Nuphar carlquistii DeVore, Taylor, & Pigg Nuphar polysepala Engelm. – Wocus Nuphar sagittifolia (Walter) Pursh Nuphar variegata Engelm. ex Durand – Variegated pond-lily Nuphar sect. Nuphar (autonym)

Nuphar japonica DC. Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm. – Yellow water-lily (type species) Nuphar microphylla (Pers.) Fern Nuphar pumila (Timm) DC. – Least water-lily There also are several interspecific hybrids:

Nuphar × fluminalis Shiga & Kadono is a natural hybrid of Nuphar japonica and Nuphar submersa Nuphar × porphyranthera Lansdown & Ruhsam is a hybrid of Nuphar advena and Nuphar lutea Nuphar × rubrodisca Morong is a natural hybrid of Nuphar microphylla and Nuphar variegata Nuphar × saijoensis (Shimoda) Padgett & Shimoda is a natural hybrid of Nuphar japonica and Nuphar pumila Nuphar × spenneriana Gaudin is a natural hybrid of Nuphar lutea and Nuphar pumila Additional species include:

Nuphar oguraensis Miki Nuphar orbiculata (Small) Standl. Nuphar ozarkana (G.S.Mill. & Standl.) Standl. Nuphar saikokuensis Shiga & Kadono Nuphar subintegerrima (Casp.) Makino Nuphar submersa Shiga & Kadono Nuphar ulvacea (G.S.Mill. & Standl.) Standl.

Fossil taxa

Numerous fossil species have been described:

Related taxa In 2017, the abundant fossilized seeds of a water lily, known as Notonuphar, were identified in the Eocene-aged La Meseta Formation of Seymour Island, Antarctica. The seed anatomy of Notonuphar closely resembles that of Nuphar, and for this reason, both are thought to be sister genera. Notonuphar is the first relative of Nuphar known to have inhabited Gondwana, and the wide geographic separation of both genera (Notonuphar inhabited Antarctica, while all extant and extinct Nuphar species are known from the Northern Hemisphere) supports the modern range of Nuphar being a relict distribution.

Etymology The etymology of the word is: medieval Latin nuphar, from medieval Latin nenuphar, thence from Arabic nīnūfar, thence from Persian nīlūfar, thence from Sanskrit nīlōtpala = blue lotus flower. For botanical gender, the name is treated as feminine.

Habitat Nuphar species occur in ponds, lakes, and slow-moving rivers, growing in water up to 5 metres (16 feet) deep; different species are variously adapted either to nutrient-rich waters (e.g. N. lutea) or nutrient-poor waters (e.g. N. pumila). Wetland soils are hypoxic and this genus is known to be capable of temporary growth even in the absence of oxygen. Also there can be mass flow of oxygen-containing air, entering by means of the young leaves, passing through the rhizome, and exiting through the older leaves. Both of these physiological adaptations to flooding are considered typical of many wetland and aquatic plants.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nuphar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nuphar claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nuphar before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nuphar ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nuphar

In research: Nuphar appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nuphar in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nuphar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aquatic plants, Freshwater plants, Nuphar, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nuphar outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Nuphar in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nuphar means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nuphar out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nuphar in simple terms?

Nuphar is a genus of aquatic plants in the family Nymphaeaceae, with a temperate to subarctic Northern Hemisphere distribution. Common names include water-lily (Eurasian species; shared with many other genera in the same family), pond-lily, alligator-bonnet or bonnet lily, and spatterdock (North Am…

Why does Nuphar matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nuphar?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nuphar.