Nymphaea abhayana

Nymphaea abhayana is a species of waterlily endemic to India.

Vegetative characteristics
Nymphaea abhayana is an annual aquatic herb. The leaves are almost all submerged. The lamina is 13-15 cm long, and 16-18 cm wide. The green petioles are glabrous.

Generative characteristics
The 5-6 cm wide flowers float, but never extend above the water surface. The four 3.7-4 cm long, 0.8-1.2 cm wide sepals display prominent venation. The seven 2.9-3.5 cm long, 0.5-0.7 cm wide petals display blueish-purple colouration. The androecium consists of 13 stamens. The flowers have 6-7 stigmatic rays. The globose, 0.7-2 cm wide fruit bears globose seeds.

Generative reproduction
Flowering and fruiting occurs from October to December.

Publication
It was first described by A.Chowdhury and M.Chowdhury in 2016.

Type specimen
The type specimen of Nymphaea abhayana was collected by Anurag et al. in Gorumara National Park, West Bengal, India, on the 16th of November 2014.

Placement within Nymphaea
It is close to Nymphaea nouchali.

Etymology
The specific epithet abhayana honours Prof. Abhaya Prasad Das of the University of North Bengal and Rajiv Gandhi University.

Conservation
Nymphaea abhayana has a very narrow distribution. It is a rare species.

Habitat
It occurs in ephemeral aquatic habitats, which dry up in December.