Morphological variability of the water lily (Nymphaea) in the Polesie Zachodnie region, Eastern Poland
AbstractMorphological analysis of the water lily (Nymphaea) was carried out to verify distribution of two closely related species Nymphaea alba and N. candida in the large swampy area in Eastern Poland, Polesie Zachodnie. A total of 25 lakes were investigated across the region. Data were collected from 20 lakes of different origin. Based on morphological characters of flowers and leaves the specimens varied continuously from “pure” N. candida to N. alba with high number of plants with mixed morphology, commonly known as N. × borealis. The intermediate morphotypes were common in all over the study area, whereas plants with exact morphology of N. candida were found mostly in humic lakes, in the eastern part of the region. The results provide evidences that N. candida occurs beyond formerly recognized southern border of its range in the country.