Nymphaea tetragona (Nymphaeaceae) a new record for 
flora of Nepal

B. B. Raskoti1, G. D. Bhatt2 and R. Ale2

The genus Nymphaea comprises 50 species 
around the world and distributed in south 
East Asia (Dezhi et al., 2001). Nymphaea 

tetragona Georgi is also known as pygmae 
water lily and distributed in China, India, Japan, 
Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Korea, Russia, Vietnam; 
North America, Europe (Dezhi et al., 2001).

There are three species of Nymphaea in Nepal, 
namely N. nouchali N. L. Burm., N. rubra Roxb. 
ex Andrews and N. lotus var. pubescens (Wild.) 
Hook. f. and Thoms. distributed in the tropical 
region (Press et al., 2000; Rajbhandari and Bhatt, 
2011; Raskoti et al., 2011). N. tetragona is not 
previously reported so far from Nepal (Hara et 
al., 1978; Press et al., 2000; Bista et al., 2001). 
There is no record of herbarium specimen in 
the National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories 
(KATH) and Tribhuvan University Central 
Herbarium (TUCH). In this study, N. tetragona 
have been collected by B. B. Raskoti and Rita Ale 
from the Banke District, of Mid-western Nepal 
and the specimen is deposited at KATH.

   1(A)

          1(B)

Fig. 1(A)- Flowering plant N. tetragona.  
B- Herbarium specimen of N. tetragona.

N. tetragona Georgi, Bemerk. Reise Russ. Reiche 
1: 220. 1775. (Figure1 A,B).

Rhizomes not branched, erect. Leaves cordate-
ovate, 5–12 × 3–8 cm, dorsal side glabrous, 
weekly peltate, base deeply cordate, margin entire. 
Flower floating, white, 3–5 cm in diam. Sepals 
persistent, inserted on receptacle, tetragonous, 
broadly lanceolate, 2–4 cm, apex subacute. Petals 
10, white, obovate, 2–3 cm, alternate to stamens, 
apex acute. Filament of inner stamens wider than 
anther, connecting apically without appendages. 
Carpels united ovary inilocular. Stigma rays 

1  Pokharathok 9, Arghakhanchi, Nepal,  Email: bbraskoti@gmail.com
2  National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories Department of Plant Resources, Godawari, Lalitpur, Nepal 

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several; carpel appendages ovate. Fruit globose, 
2–3 cm in diam. Seeds smooth, ellipsoid, 2–4 mm 
long. 

Flowering: October-November.

Habit and habitat

Open shallow ponds near roadsides, at an altitude 
of 160–300 m. Population of the N. tetragona 
is decreasing due to its habitat destruction, 
overexploitation for ornamental and religious use.

Distribution

Nepal (Mid-western Nepal), China, India, Japan, 
Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Korea, Russia, Vietnam; 
North America, Europe. 

Specimen examined

Mid-western Nepal, Banke District, Nepalgunj 
at altitude of about 160 m, Oct 22, 2010, B. B. 
Raskoti and R. Ale 210 (KATH).

Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the chief of the 
National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories 
Godawari, Lalitpur (KATH) and Tribhuvan 
University Central Herbarium (TUCH) for 
allowing us to examine herbarium specimens.

References
Bista, M. S., Adhikari, M. K. and  Rajbhandari, 

K. R. 2001. Flowering Plants of Nepal 
(Phanerograms). Department of Plant 
Resources, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Dezhi, F. U., Wiersema, J. H. and Padgett, D. 
2001. Flora of China. Vol. 6. Missouri 
Botanical Garden Press, Missouri, USA. 

Hara, H., Stearn, W. T. and Williams, L. H. J. 
1978. An Enumeration of the Flowering 
Plants of Nepal. British (Natural History) 
Museum, London, UK.

Press, J. R., Shrestha, K. K. and Sutton, D. 
A. 2000. Annotated Checklist of the 
Flowering Plants of Nepal. The Natural 
History Museum, London, UK.

Rajbhandari, K. R. and Bhatt, G. D. 2011. 
Nymphaeaceae. In: Catalogue of Nepalese 
Flowering Plants-II (eds.) Rajbhandari, K. 
R., Bhattarai, K. R. and Baral, S. R. National 
Herbarium and Plant Laboratories, Godawari, 
Lalitpur, Nepal, 27–28.

Raskoti, B. B., Ale, R. and Bhatt, G. D. 2011. A 
new record of Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae) 
for Flora of Nepal. Botanica Orientalis 8: 
105–107.

Raskoti et al.