Sweet 'n' sour water lilies

This will be a brief iopna for a change but hopefully we'll discover more as we go...

Newcastle Airport...of all places!

Water lilies (Nymphaeaceae) have some very unique features:

·       they are adaxial - the stomata (mouth) for breathing are on the upper side, with about 460 per square millimetre 

(Stomata are typically on the underside of leaves to limit moisture loss)

·       some bloom by day, others at night
·       blue flowers are common in this group
·       the giant water-lily of the Amazon raises its temperature by 10 degrees C to attract insects and to make it doubly attractive, emits a strong scent varying between butterscotch and pineapple!

So who thought of warm 'sweet & sour' first?

Acknowledgements:  John Mackay,Creation Research  
daviddarling.info    
ehow.com   
Photocredit: Janette  Hornsey