Social media photo leads to discovery of Victoria colombiana, a critically endangered giant waterlily
A chance Instagram photo of a plant in Colombia’s Inírida River led to the formal identification of Victoria colombiana, a new species of giant waterlily. Discovered by a team from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the plant is critically endangered with only 30 to 50 individuals known in the wild. The discovery highlights the value of combining social media, satellite imagery, and indigenous knowledge in modern botanical research.