Known as the “Giant Water Platter,” South America’s giant Amazon water lily has strong leaves that reach 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters) across and can support the weight of a child. The water lilies produce flowers that open at night and are the size of a dinner plate. The first night they are white female flowers; on the second night they turn to pink male flowers. Beetles and sphinx moths that live in the Amazon River region pollinate the flowers and the seedpods that are the size of a baby’s head sink beneath the water, where they lay dormant in the mud for up to four years before germinating. The plant lays dormant for a period every year before producing more leaves that increase in size before it flowers again. However, the giant water lily’s leaves are not the biggest on Earth. Palm trees can grow leaves up to 65 feet (20 meters) long!

• Which is the smallest flower in the world?
• What it the largest flower in the world?
• Can you eat flowers?
• Do all flowers close up at night?
• What makes a plant bloom at the right time of year?
• Why are so many flowers brightly colored?
• What is the difference between annual, perennial, and biennial flowers?
• When did the first flowers bloom?
• What are comets?
• What is the difference between a bulb, a corm, and a tuber?
• Are there plants that do not grow from seeds?
• What is the difference between self pollination and cross pollination?
• Does the expression “Open sesame!” have anything to do with sesame seeds?
• How do flowering plants make their seeds?
• Which plant spreads its seeds with the help of children at play?
• Do animals ever carry seeds?
• How do seeds become plants?
• What is a seed?
• Do all plants have flowers?
• What are the patterns of stars called?