When Carlos Magdalena saw a photo on Instagram of someone swimming beside a giant lily pad in Colombia’s Inírida River, he knew something was off. The plant looked like Victoria amazonica, but that species had never been seen in the Orinoco Basin before. What followed was a five-day expedition through flooded rainforest, guided by Indigenous experts and nearly cut short—until, with just ten hours left, they found it: a flowering specimen of what would become Victoria colombiana, a new species of giant water lily.
This isn’t just any plant. Its leaves stretch up to 2 meters wide—big enough to hold a small child—and can be spotted from space using satellite images. But despite its size, Victoria colombiana stayed hidden from science for so long because it grows in remote, hard-to-reach parts of the Colombian Amazon, far from roads or research stations. It took the deep local knowledge of Nilo Rodríguez, Jaime Hernández, and Gustavo Melo—members of the Río Atabapo, Caranacoa-Yurí-Laguna Morocoto, and Puinave-Piapoco el Paujil Indigenous reserves—to navigate the flooded forest where GPS failed and trails vanished underwater.
"To say that this research would have not been possible without their support and help, is an understatement," said Magdalena, a horticulturist at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The team confirmed two populations during their trip, but only one had flowers—essential for identifying a new species. Without that last-minute detour to a secluded lake, the discovery might have waited years, if it happened at all.
Now, scientists believe there are only between 30 and 50 wild plants left. That makes Victoria colombiana critically endangered—a rare giant clinging to survival in a changing world. The good news? Researchers are working with local communities to collect seeds and grow the lilies in botanic gardens and near Indigenous lands, helping protect both the plant and traditional knowledge.
The story of Victoria colombiana is more than a botanical find—it’s a reminder that even in the age of satellites and social media, some secrets remain hidden in plain sight. And often, the people best equipped to find them aren’t scientists with microscopes, but guardians of the forest who know every bend in the river.