One of the highlights of last weekend’s trip with some friends to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia was the giant lily pads outside of the glass-encased conservatory. I think they are from the Victoria genus of water lilies (possibly Victoria amazonica) which, according to Wikipedia, can grow to almost ten feet in diameter and support a weight of up to 70 pounds.
The turtle in the background was a bonus—I didn’t even realize that it was there until I looked at my images on my computer.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Aaah, the reptilian version of the bonus bug! Actually, I’d like to see how a turtle actually climbs aboard such a raft without some sort of sub-surface stepping stone. I have this ridiculous vision of one swimming faster and faster as it approaches–like a penguin–and then shooting up and over the edge…
There is an old photo that shows a little girl actually standing on one of these lily pads. They’re pretty amazing.
That is an amazing Lily pad
They grow in the Amazon and other locations in South America–definitely not what I see around here.
Wow, great photo, Mike!!!
Thanks. I remembered these lily pads from last year and was super happy to see they were present this year too. It was a bit of a challenge getting this shot, because I had my 180mm macro on my camera and had to back way up.