8/27/2023 0 Comments Lilypond place![]() ![]() The giant lily was discovered by British explorers in South America in 1801. (There are two sister species of giant water lily with different colors on the underside.) The overall effect is striking: an intricate web of yellow veins against the dark green or red of the leaf. They are crossed at regular intervals by other veins that form concentric circles and are unique to this genus of water lily. The main veins become thinner and divide into branches as they approach the rim of the leaf. The underside of the leaf is entirely covered with a fractal network of spiny veins that radiate out from the central stem. “When we pull the leaves out of the pond here, and the public see them, they actually gasp at the beauty of the leaves,” Thorogood says. The source of both its beauty and its brawn is seen only from below. Inspiring veinsįrom above, the leaf of an Amazonian water lily resembles a large green dinner plate with an upturned rim. “What we showed through our empirical experiments and mathematical modeling was that these leaves are uniquely strong and have rigid flexibility that enables them to grow really big,” says Thorogood, who was the senior author of the study. Their research, published in February in Science Advances, could transform what Chris Thorogood, the deputy director of the Botanic Garden & Arboretum at the University of Oxford, calls “a big botanical enigma” into a guide that could inspire better engineering and design in buildings, particularly in floating structures. Yet how the lily’s leaves are able to grow as large as 10 feet across, strong enough to support the weight of a small child, has remained a mystery-until now.Ī team of British and French scientists studying the mechanics of those giant leaves have documented a network of branching, girder-like veins optimized for strength and structural support. ![]() The giant Amazonian water lily has long fascinated scientists, architects, and artists for its beauty and sheer size.
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