A giant waterlily spotted in the background of an Instagram photo has been described as a new species, and scientists say only about 30 to 50 plants may survive in the wild. The plant, named Victoria colombiana, grows in the Inírida region of eastern Colombia and was identified after a researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London, noticed that a lily in a traveler's photo was growing where it should not have been.

The discovery was published in the botanical journal Phytotaxa, according to Yale Environment 360. The research team plans to submit the species to the International Union for Conservation of Nature for listing as critically endangered.

The story shows how ordinary social media posts can feed real science. It also highlights how much of the planet's plant life remains undocumented, even among plants with leaves large enough to see from satellites.

A Photo in the Wrong Place

In December 2021, Jeremiah Harris, who owns a carnivorous plant nursery in the United States, posted a photo of himself beside a giant waterlily in the Inírida region, Gizmodo reported. He identified it as Victoria amazonica, the famous Amazon waterlily whose leaf pads can grow up to 6 feet across.

Carlos Magdalena, a botanical horticulturist at Kew and the study's lead author, saw the post and suspected a mistake. Victoria amazonica is not known to grow in the Inírida region, according to Yale Environment 360, so a giant lily there could mean something new.

Magdalena searched satellite imagery of the river and found a group of giant lily pads. Harris confirmed they were the plants he had seen, setting up an expedition to the remote area about two years later.

Searching for a Flower in the Rainforest

Finding the plants was only the first step — the team still needed a flower. To describe a new species, botanists needed a flowering plant to collect a fertile herbarium specimen, the reference sample that lets scientists compare it with known species. The team's first search turned up lilies but no flowers.

On the eve of their departure, their boatman, an Indigenous Tucano man, said he knew where other waterlilies grew, Yale Environment 360 reported. The team left at 1 a.m. and followed him into the forest to a small lake holding five waterlilies, one of them in flower.

In total, the researchers documented seven plants across two lakes, Gizmodo reported. Yale Environment 360 said the species numbers no more than 50 individuals in the wild, while Gizmodo reported estimates as low as 30 to 50.

"Remarkably, some of this tech is in your pocket, be it Instagram or WhatsApp," Magdalena said, according to Gizmodo. He added that many species are "being destroyed before we get to know them."

Rarity Raises Conservation Stakes

A population of a few dozen plants is extremely small. That makes the species vulnerable to almost any disturbance, from changes in water levels to damage to the lakes where it grows. The published coverage does not identify specific threats at the sites, and the researchers' IUCN assessment has not yet been published.

Nature World News was not able to access the Phytotaxa paper directly, so details such as the exact traits that separate Victoria colombiana from its relatives are based on press coverage rather than the original description. The estimated population is also based on limited surveys of a remote region, and more plants could exist in unsurveyed lakes. Those are the main limits of the current evidence.

The genus Victoria already includes some of the world's most recognizable plants. For more than a century, botanists recognized only two species, the Amazon waterlily, Victoria amazonica, and the Santa Cruz waterlily, Victoria cruziana. In 2022, Kew researchers, with Magdalena among them, described a third, Victoria boliviana, from plants that had been growing in Kew's own collection and in Bolivia. Victoria colombiana would make the group's second new species in just four years, a sign of how little attention even famous plant groups sometimes receive.

That pace also raises a practical point for conservation. A species cannot be protected under national laws or listed on the IUCN Red List until it has a scientific name and a published description, so formal naming is often the first step toward any protection at all. Giant waterlilies are star attractions at botanical gardens such as Kew — their pads are among the largest leaves of any aquatic plant. A new species in such a well-known group shows that even striking plants can go unrecognized.

Citizen Science and Collections

The case adds to a growing list of discoveries made from photos posted by nonscientists. Platforms such as iNaturalist let anyone upload observations, and specialists can spot unusual species, locations, or behaviors that would otherwise go unnoticed.

For readers, that means a hiking or travel photo can have scientific value. Recording the location and date, avoiding disturbance of plants and wildlife, and sharing observations through recognized citizen-science platforms gives researchers the best chance to follow up. Collecting wild plants, especially rare ones, can be illegal and harmful.

Magdalena framed the find as an example of collaboration. "Connecting these people from different backgrounds is key in a rapidly changing world," he said, according to Gizmodo.

The bottom line is that a social media post led to the formal description of a giant waterlily that may number only a few dozen plants. Its survival is likely to depend on protecting a small number of lakes in eastern Colombia, and on the IUCN assessment the team plans to submit.

What Readers Want to Know

What is Victoria colombiana?

It is a newly described species of giant waterlily from the Inírida region of eastern Colombia, published in the journal Phytotaxa.

How was it discovered?

A Kew horticulturist, Carlos Magdalena, noticed a giant waterlily in a 2021 Instagram photo from a region where the Amazon waterlily is not known to grow, then confirmed the site with satellite images and an expedition.

How many plants are left?

Researchers estimate as few as 30 to 50 plants in the wild. They documented seven plants across two lakes.

Is it endangered?

The team plans to submit it to the IUCN for listing as critically endangered. No official listing has been made yet.

How big do giant waterlilies get?

Giant waterlily pads in the genus Victoria can grow up to about 6 feet across.

Can photos help scientists find new species?

Yes. Photos with accurate locations and dates, shared through citizen-science platforms, can alert specialists to unusual plants and animals.