Scientists at Kew Gardens in London announced on Monday the discovery of a new species of giant water lily, dating back to the mid-19th century.
In detail, samples of this new type of lily have remained undetected in Kew Gardens for 177 years, and in the National Herbarium in Bolivia for 34 years.
These lilies were thought to be Victoria Amazonica, one of the two known species of giant water lilies, named after Queen Victoria in 1852.
But its actual species was discovered after experts at Kew worked with a team from Bolivia to prove that it was, in fact, a new third species.
In addition to being the latest species of giant water lilies, the 'Victoria Boliviana', whose leaves grow up to three meters in the wild, is also the largest in the world.
A research paper detailing years of investigative work was published Monday in the journal Frontiers in Plant Sciences.
The seeds of this third species of water lily were donated by the Santa Cruz de la Sierra Garden and La Rinconada Gardens in Bolivia.
For his part, Carlos Magdalena, a researcher specializing in saving plant species on the verge of extinction, described this water lily as "one of the botanical wonders of the world".
In fact, the giant water lilies of this plant bloom at night and turn from white to pink. It was named "Victoria Boliviana" in honor of the Bolivian partners in the research team and the plant's natural ecosystem.
Que Gardens is the only place in the world where the three types of Victoria lilies, 'Amazonica', 'Cruziana' and 'Boliviana', can be seen.