CREDIT – Sebastian Kettley © RBG Kew.
A single leaf of a Victoria Boliviana at the historic site has been found to support the weight of an 102kg adult.
The annual competition is led by Denver Botanic Gardens in the USA.
The results will be announced in a few weeks’ time and you can see Kew’s entry on Radio Jackie’s Instagram.
This year, Kew’s botanical horticulturists Aidan Pike and Martin Silnevs threw down the gauntlet when Silnevs mounted the waterlily pad, placing a total weight of 102kg (224.87lbs) on the leaf when accounting for his gear, waders and plastic base.
He was then joined on the pad by Pike, staying up for several seconds before the leaf buckled and took on too much water. The leaf was then carefully carved up and taken to Kew’s Compost Corner, ensuring the green waste would be recycled and reused as mulch.
The duo also tested another of the plant’s pads by lading it with stacks of tinned baked beans, recording a total weight of 81 kg (178.5 lbs) before it gave out.
Martin Silnevs, Botanical Horticulturist, said of the attempt: ‘Stepping onto the waterlily pad felt so surreal and was, indeed, a real leap of faith! It’s all very counterintuitive to think a delicate waterlily could support a weight over 100kg, and yet, it did.
‘The experience made me appreciate the ingenuity, resilience and beauty of nature even more. Fun exercises like the Waterlily Weigh-Off just go to prove that nature has a way of defying our expectations and reminding us just how extraordinary the world around us truly is.’
